AEW Dynamite: New Year’s Smash (12-29-21)

- Jim Ross returns to a massive ovation from the crowd tonight in Daily's Place as he returns from his skin cancer treatments. Tony Schiavone, Excalibur were the broadcast team for tonight’s event.

10 Man Tag Team Match
M1: FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler), Matt Hardy & Private Party def. Christian Cage, Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus & AEW Tag Team Champions The Lucha Brothers (c) (Rey Fenix & Penta El Zero M)

M2: 2.0 (Matt Lee & Jeff Parker) & Daniel Garcia def. The Inner Circle's Santana, Ortiz & Eddie Kingston
- After the match Daniel Garcia grabbed the ring bеll and rammed it into Santana’s skull!

- Inner Circle lеader Chris Jericho came out slowly to the ring with his baseball bat and 2point0 and Daniel Garcia retreated!
- - Eddie Kingston told the production truck to cut off Jericho’s music. Eddie Kingston got into Chris Jericho’s face, saying he didn’t need Jericho’s help. Ortiz got in between then to try to calm Eddie down.

- MJF was backstage with Wardlow and Shawn Spears of The Pinnacle -- MJF said AEW put him in an unsafe working environment last week with Sting because Sting isn't a properly trained wrestler and that would be something he would have to consider during the Bidding War of 2024..

- Tony Schiavone was backstage interviewing AEW Tag Team Champions The Lucha Brothers when pretty much instantly they get interrupted by Christian Cage who said “You dipshits cost us the match! Why don’t we stop delaying the inevitable and you 2 can fight Jurassic Express next week?!” The Lucha Bros accepted the match!

M3: Wardlow (w/ Shawn Spears) def. Colin Delaney in a squash match
After the match the referee tried to help Colin Delaney to the back, but "The Chairman" Shawn Spears walloped Delaney with the steel chair!

Backstage: Matt & Nick Jackson were with Adam Cole. Kyle O’ Reilly told the Young Bucks to leave. The Bucks said they weren’t going anywhere until Adam Cole told them to give them a minute alone. Kyle O’Reilly then told Bobby Fish to leave...Kyle O’Reilly was alone with Adam Cole and said they were in AEW now, and he needs to know if Cole really had his back...Adam Cole told the cameraman to stop filming for the 34th time..that bit is getting old

In Ring Segment: Dan Lambert was in the ring with The Men Of The Year "All Ego" Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky. -- Dan Lambert ran down Cody Rhodes, Brandi, and Arn Anderson. “Cody, you never made it until you cut a deal with Tony Con-Man to skip the line of much more deserving talent!”
- - - Brandi Rhodes came out with a mic and told Dan Lambert this wasn’t open mic night! She told Dan Lambert she would whoop his ass tonight for free! Brandi would say Lambert is a cheap version of Paul Heyman to which he responded "I prefer Jim Cornette".
- Brandi would say the cringe line of "You got a black belt, well I'm a black bitch!" (...that was cringe)
----Dustin Rhodes tried to stop Brandi but Ethan Page and Scorpio blindsided Dustin. Lambert walked off with a big smile on his face.

TBS Women’s Title Tournament Semi-Final Match
M4: Jade Cargill (w/ “Smart” Mark Sterling) def. Thunder Rosa (Wolverine gear) --Mark Sterling distracted the referee when someone in a hoodie attacked Thunder Rosa with a glass bottle. Cargill planted Thunder Rosa with her Jaded finisher and then pinned Rosa!
- The mystery person in the hoodie is revealed to be Mercedes Martinez -- Ruby Soho ran out to the ring and chased them off with a steel pipe!
---Ruby Soho will take on Jade Cargill in the finals for the TBS Championship on the premier episode of AEW Dynamite on TBS on January 5th

In ring segment: CM Punk appeared at Daily’s Place for the first time ever! - CM Punk: “Where’s Jim Ross? You know I come out here and I immediately get to thinking how awesome it is to see you sitting back there at that booth. You’re the best ever to do it and I’m glad to see you back at work -- “I’ve never been to Daily’s Place but this has been a home to AEW and it gets me thinking about Brodie Lee. And if there’s anybody out there that says anything to try to minimize the impact that that man had, it makes me feel sorry for them because it means they never met him. I sat at home and watched a tribute show to my friend and it made me want to come here --- “So then I thought about someone who isn’t worth my time. And speaking about Internet trolls, I’m talking about MJF. He’s a Twitter troll. He doesn’t say that stuff to your face. He hides behind a keyboard. He’s so stupid he actually believes he’s as good as Roddy Piper in Portland. Roddy Piper laced up his wrestling boots but MJF laced up his running shoes last week. ---- “If MJF doesn’t want none, he doesn’t have to have none. And I’m looking towards bigger things, and so is MJF. You always hear MJF say if you won’t want to be champion, you don’t belong here. And it’s true. I want to be AEW Champion too. -----“So MJF, you are a waste of my time, and you are a waste of Khan’s money. I never wanted to mess with MJF but he found out the hard way—that on this mic, in this ring, even on commentary, nobody can touch me. It’d be a real shame if somebody interfered with MJF’s quest for gold.”

Backstage: FTW Champion "Absolute" Ricky Starks with Powerhouse Hobbs
- Ricky Starks says Dante Martin screwed up when he eliminated him from the Dynamite Diamond Battle Royal, He wondered if Dante could handle Powerhouse Hobbs for a 2nd round.

- During the picture in picture commercial break, Sammy Guevara held up poster boards with a message. His resolution for the new year is to win back his TNT title from Cody Rhodes. (Cody defeated him on the Christmas edition of AEW Rampage for the TNT Championship.)

In ring segment: Tony Schiavone interviewed Brian Pillman, Jr.
-- Brian Pillman, Jr.: “Last week, my partner, no—my brother—Griff Garrison walked right into the House of Black. Admittedly I don’t have a lot of memory of that night. But I can’t get the sound of that bell out of my head when Malakai Black tried to end the career of my brother...“So I tried to help my brother (Griff) and that’s when my memory goes fuzzy and black. And the next thing I know I’m lying next to the person I tried to protect.
--- “Malakai, now it is my turn to take a trip to the House of Black. But I won’t come barging at your door. I never got to know my father, but if I learned one thing from my father, I learned you only get one life, and you’re not gonna get mine! ---- The lights turned off and Malakai Black appeared out of thin air! He stared at Brian Pillman, Jr. The lights turned on and Malakai was gone!

Trios Match
M5: Kyle. O'Reilly, Adam Cole & Bobby Fish def. Chuck Taylor, Trent & Orange Cassidy
- After the match: Adam Cole was upset that Kyle mistimed the kick. Cole left the ring with The Young Bucks while Kyle and Bobby celebrated the victory.