Background New Year's Smash is a two-part
television special held around
New Year's by
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) since January 2021. On October 18, 2022, AEW announced that the third New Year's Smash would return
live on December 28 for
Wednesday Night Dynamite on
TBS and an episode of
Friday Night Rampage that would air on
tape delay on December 30 on
TNT. The event took place at the
1stBank Center in
Broomfield, Colorado.
Storylines New Year's Smash featured
professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and
storylines. Wrestlers portrayed
heroes,
villains, or
less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Storylines were produced on AEW's weekly television programs,
Dynamite and
Rampage, the supplementary online streaming shows,
Dark and
Elevation, and
The Young Bucks'
YouTube series
Being The Elite. At
Full Gear,
Death Triangle (
Pac,
Penta El Zero Miedo, and
Rey Fénix) defeated
The Elite (
Kenny Omega,
Matt Jackson, and
Nick Jackson) to retain the
AEW World Trios Championship. Afterwards, it was announced that the Full Gear match was the first in a
Best of Seven Series for the championship. Death Triangle would again defeat The Elite on the following episode of
Dynamite, but The Elite gained a win on the next week's episode. At
Winter Is Coming, Death Triangle secured another win to lead the series at 3–1. The Elite then gained another win at
Dynamite: Holiday Bash to bring the series to 3–2, with the sixth match scheduled for
Dynamite: New Year's Smash as a
Falls Count Anywhere match. ==Aftermath==