“It’s Wednesday. You know what that means.”
Happy New Year and welcome to All Elite Wrestling’s first night of NEW YEAR’S SMASH! This Wednesday night, LIVE on TNT, at our regular time slot of 8pm EST/7pm CST, we are bringing multiple title fights! Last week, we paid tribute to “The Exalted One” Mr. Brodie Lee with an extremely emotional collection of matches to honor of one of the most beloved people who ever set foot inside the wrestling ring. Jon Huber will be dearly, deeply missed by not just all of us here in All Elite Wrestling, but by the entire wrestling community on both sides of the guardrails. We love you…
This week, DYNAMITE presents two title matches with both the World Title and Women’s World Title on the line, the return of former World Champion Jon Moxley on tap, Cody versus Sydal, a tremendous eight man tag, and the Inner Circle’s two big men colliding with one another! Also Snoop Dogg will be in the house, Jericho on commentary, plus plenty more coming your way with NEW YEAR’S SMASH: NIGHT ONE airing LIVE on TNT this Wednesday night at 8pm EST!
Also, be sure to check out the Pre- and Post-Game shows airing exclusively on the official AEW YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFN4JkGP_bVhAdBsoV9xftA/videos) channel, as well as a loaded edition of AEW DARK dropping Tuesday evening, to get the full Elite Experience!
AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…
Kenny Omega (w/ Don Callis) (c) vs. Rey Fenix (w/ Penta El Zero Miedo)
On the December 16th edition of DYNAMITE, just after AEW World Champion Kenny Omega defeated Joey Janela in a World Title Eliminator challenge, Death Triangle emerged from the tunnels. See Janela was bequeathed an opportunity by Omega as a result of being pulled from the World Title Eliminator Tournament that Kenny ultimately won to get his shot at Jon Moxley. If Joey could pull out the victory, something he was unable to do in their two previous encounters, he would earn a World Title bout with Kenny.
Janela came up short, which led to the above clip of Omega and Don Callis boasting that, essentially, all debts were settled, and Kenny could move on with his life. Apparently the duo forgot about the other man whose fortunes were changed during that tournament by circumstances beyond his control: Rey Fenix. It was that half of The Lucha Brothers who actually won his Quarter-Final match in the tournament, having defeated his own brother, Penta El Zero Miedo, but who was forced onto the sidelines by Eddie Kingston due to an injury. Fenix was forced to forfeit his spot, his chance to fight Kenny Omega, and any potential to fight for the AEW World Title.
Fast forward from that October heartbreak to a December rebirth, a fresh opportunity for Fenix, and it comes to fruition this Wednesday night in the form of an AEW World Title match with Kenny Omega. It may mark Omega’s first title defense, and the first time Rey Fenix has challenged for the AEW World Championship, but it is not the first time these two warriors have gone to battle. Since their first collision in 2017, Omega and Fenix have danced on nine occasions in tag team matches, in multi-man situations, and twice in singles competition.
Six of those nine encounters, and both of those singles bouts. have swung in the favor of Kenny Omega or his team, with the last one-on-one meeting resulting in Omega capturing the AAA Mega Title from Fenix. This Wednesday, nearly 450 days since their last singles match, with Kenny still holding that AAA Title as well as the AEW World Championship, Fenix gets the chance to redeem himself and take the AEW World Title as his own.
Will history repeat itself in this championship clash between Kenny Omega and Rey Fenix, or will one-third of Death Triangle end The Cleaner’s reign on his first defense?
AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…
Hikaru Shida (c) vs. (#3) “The Living Dead Girl” Abadon
For weeks now, since the day she crawled out onto the stage and left her mark on the championship belt, Abadon has haunted the AEW Women’s World Champion. Be it in the locker room area, at the interview set, or at ringside, “The Living Dead Girl” has both physically and psychologically terrorized the reigning champion. It is a very different scenario than March of last year when Abadon was defeated by Shida in her AEW debut match…
That night Shida was certainly shook by the presence of Abadon, it threw the future Women’s Champion off her game on multiple occasions, but she was able to set it aside long enough to pick up the victory. For Shida, it was seemingly just one of twenty-three singles victories in 2020, but for Abadon it was a statement that the AEW women’s division had a chaotic new presence in its ranks.
Shida would move on from that night to claim the AEW Women’s World Title from Nyla Rose, successfully defend it in five contests, and end her 2020 with just one non-tag team blemish on her 25-4 record for the year. Abadon, with her competition limited by the pandemic, tacked on six straight victories over 2020, ended the year ranked number three in the women’s division, and is living rent free in the psyche of Hikaru Shida.
On Wednesday, Abadon receives the biggest opportunity of her wrestling career when the machinations of the last few weeks pay off in a World Title Match with Hikaru Shida. It is the toughest test of her young career, much more so than their initial encounter given the championship is on the line, but it is also a drastically different challenge than Shida’s other opponents. Nyla Rose, Penelope Ford, Anna Jay, Thunder Rosa, Big Swole; none of them offered up the unpredictable, erratic, psychologically terrifying challenge that Abadon presents for Shida.
Tune in Wednesday night to see if the defending champion can overcome her fears, and turn back the latest challenge for her AEW Women’s World Title!
ONE-ON-ONE…
(#3) “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes (w/ Arn Anderson) vs. Matt Sydal
Just one day before the premiere of THE GO-BIG SHOW (Learn More) on TBS, where Cody Rhodes serves as a member of the judging panel, the former two-time TNT Champion will lock horns with Matt Sydal in their first ever singles encounter!
While Cody has been embroiled in a heated rivalry with the members of Team Taz over recent weeks, and wrapped up with the TNT Title prior to that, Sydal has been amassing a tremendous record. Having won eleven straight matches on AEW DARK following his win over Baron Black this Tuesday night, Sydal is primed to move up into the top five rankings, and a victory over the former two-time TNT Champion would be just the ticket to achieve that goal.
Also, as witnessed in the video above from Sydal’s appearance on The Waiting Room With Dr. Britt Baker, it would be an additional feather in the cap to beat “The American Nightmare” when all eyes are on Cody prior to the debut of THE GO-BIG SHOW. It’s a tremendous achievement for the head of The Nightmare Family to be a part of this production, something to be truly proud of, but Sydal is aiming to dampen the excitement by defeating Cody live on DYNAMITE.
EIGHT MAN GRUDGE MATCH…
World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks & SCU (Christopher Daniels/Frankie Kazarian)
Vs.
The Hybrid2 (Angelico & Jack Evans) & (#5) The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster)
The issues between these four teams have been on-going for quite a few weeks now. Each pair has danced, on a couple occasions in the case of the SCU duo and TH2, and the results have swung both ways. The Young Bucks beat TH2 on December 9th, and topped The Acclaimed in their first World Tag Team Title defense on December 23rd while Kaz and CD bested Evans and Angelico back in October, and then again on the 12/29 edition of DARK. Unfortunately for the SCU pair, they were not quite so fortunate against Bowens and Caster in their December 16th bout, albeit the inclusion of a certain boom box into the contest certainly swayed the results of the contest.
But that utterly disrespectful and disgusting display by The Acclaimed one week ago, as illustrated in the video embedded above, just goes to show the kind of men Anthony Bowens and Max Caster are at their core. They attempted to co-opt the moment following Colt Cabana and The Young Bucks win, but with a little help from Daniels and Kazarian, the Colt, Matt, and Nick trio made sure The Acclaimed paid for it.
This week on DYNAMITE, the roads of all four men converge as the World Tag Team Champions and their long-time friends from SCU come together to even the score with Angelico, Evans, Bowens, and Caster! Shockingly, despite their long history as friends, it’s the first time
that SCU and The Young Bucks have teamed up together; foes on many occasions yes, but first time as allies, and what a match-up for their first outing as a quartet.
The TH2 and Acclaimed pairing may also be a new thing, but those are not four men as intimately familiar with each other as The Young Bucks and SCU. They are friends yes, but they have also fought over many a championship in their long history together, making them quite familiar with what each other bring to the dance.
Will that familiarity be the ticket to defeating The Hybrid2 and The Acclaimed? We shall see this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE!
INNER CIRCLE IN-FIGHTING…
Jake Hager vs. “The War Dog” Wardlow
Perhaps it is because they are two of the biggest men on the AEW roster who are now occupying the same space as members of The Inner Circle, but it has been pretty clear for awhile now that Jake Hager and Wardlow do not get along. From the very beginning of MJF looking for his way into the group, Hager and Wardlow have been sizing each other up. Just look at that trip to Las Vegas (Watch Here) to see how these two have been at odds from jump street.
But, just a few weeks ago (Watch Here), with Chris Jericho delivering an ultimatum to the group to either get on the same page or be dispersed, it seemed like The Inner Circle had managed to smooth things over. Yet even in the closing moments of that, with each man extending their hand (and finger) in the Inner Circle’s rather unique sign of unity, Wardlow and Hager were eyeballing one another.
Then, with Wardlow having to miss two weeks of DYNAMITE due to a family emergency, it gave Hager all the fuel he needed to put “The War Dog” on blast, and challenge him to this match set to go down on Wednesday night! Just as MJF has smoothed things over, relatively speaking, with Santana, Ortiz, and Sammy Guevara, his right hand man is now being pulled into a fight with a different member of The Inner Circle!
This is two of the biggest men in the AEW locker room squaring off, and when the proverbial dust has settled, no matter who wins or loses, will The Inner Circle finally move on without any additional in-fighting? We shall see what happens come the close of business Wednesday night…
MOXLEY RETURNS…
It has been over a month since Jon Moxley lost the AEW World Title to Kenny Omega as a result of the cascading circumstances that started with the involvement of Don Callis and led to a microphone, blood, multiple V-Triggers, and a One Winged Angel. After 277 days and nine successful title defenses against eight different foes, Jon Moxley was dethroned on December 2nd in the main event of the “WINTER IS COMING” edition of DYNAMITE.
Since that cold December night, AEW has not heard so much as a peep from the former World Champion be it on DYNAMITE, AEW DARK, or any of the various AEW social media platforms. But this Wednesday night, as part of NEW YEAR’S SMASH: NIGHT ONE, Moxley will be LIVE on DYNAMITE and what will happen is anyone’s guess! One can assume Mox will have something to say about Kenny Omega and the AEW World Title, but predictability is not something one equates with the former World Champion.
Whatever Moxley has up his sleeve, do not miss DYNAMITE on Wednesday night to see what he has in store. After all, the last time Moxley went radio silent, back in 2019 when a MRSA infection forced him off ALL OUT, he broke that silence by decimating Kenny Omega on the debut episode of DYNAMITE…
TNT TITLE WEIGH-IN…
TNT Champion Darby Allin and Team Taz’s Brian Cage
Team Taz has made life for Darby Allin hellish since even before he captured the TNT Title from “The American Nightmare” at FULL GEAR 2020. They made sure to ruin any celebration Allin may have had that night by attacking Darby, and have taken any chance available to verbally assault the TNT Champion as well. Brian Cage pinning Allin in a tag team bout back on the November 18th DYNAMITE, just after Allin captured that title, combined with The Machine’s standing in the top five rankings, have now positioned the Team Taz member for a title fight at NEW YEAR’S BASH: NIGHT 2 on January 13th.
But before we get there, there is a matter of the official weigh-ins for the TNT Title match to take care of and that will go down during NEW YEAR’S BASH: NIGHT 1 this week on DYNAMITE. Clearly Allin needs to be wary of the numbers factor when it comes to any situation involving Taz and his ilk, they have no qualms about using those numbers to intimidate and assault, and this is just the sort of situation perfect for Team Taz to shoot for an advantage going into the title match.
Thankfully the arrival of Sting, who will be in the house on DYNAMITE this Wednesday, has helped tipped the scales away from Team Taz. Add in the fact Cody Rhodes is also enmeshed with the orange and black-clad mob and the balance further weighs in Darby Allin’s favor should Team Taz feel froggy.
This weigh-in is a situation ripe for chaos, but chaos is a world in which the TNT Champion thrives…
AEW kicks off our two week NEW YEAR’S BASH event this Wednesday night, LIVE on TNT, starting at 8pm EST/7pm CST! We’ve got two huge World Title matches on tap, plus the return of Jon Moxley, Cody versus Sydal, a battle of Inner Circle behemoths, a grand eight-man tag, and more wrestling action, plus “The DemoGod” Chris Jericho will join the commentary team to help ring in the first AEW event of 2021, and the iconic Snoop Dogg will be in the house!!
And to whet your appetite for the Wednesday night action, make sure to catch a jam-packed AEW DARK, available exclusively on our YouTube channel (Watch Here), featuring Rey Fenix, the return of Bear Country, Matt Sydal prepping for his Cody match, Jungle Boy, a wild four way with Kazarian, Angelico, Griff Garrison, and Darius Martin, plus a whole lot more!!! Thirteen action packed matches come your way Tuesday night at 7pm EST/6pm CST only on the official AEW YouTube channel!
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