AEW New Year's Smash sets the stage for a big AEW push

All Elite Wrestling does an excellent job of creating some massive matchups on weekly television. The same should be said for New Year’s Smash set for Wednesday, December 27. This showcase event offers two PPV-level contests that should set the stage for AEW’s main event picture coming out of Worlds End. The Continental Classic has delivered on all levels and the two finals are perfectly built for the stories involved and what’s to come.

The Blue League brings together Bryan Danielson and Eddie Kingston. What’s amazing about Danielson’s 2023 campaign is that even though he’s suffered multiple injuries, he’s still put on a series of the best matches of the last 12 months. Should that surprise anyone? Of course not. It’s one of the reasons he’s recognized as the best in the business by many. But he’s continued to do excellent work every step of the way and this match against Kingston will continue that trend.

For Kingston, this is the underdog story that fans continue to call for in AEW. He is almost the perfect representation of what AEW has meant for professional wrestling. He’s continued to pull himself up when he’s beaten down. Seeing him hold the Ring of Honor World Championship and NJPW Strong Openweight Title are big moments in his career, but there are more to come if he can pick up the victory.

Kingston should be the man to get his hand raised. Seeing him in a big match at the PPV would do wonders for getting many AEW followers locked into the show. Danielson doesn’t need the big victory and part of what he’s done in 2023 is help put over the talent that needs the push. Kingston is the one that needs that boost now and must get the big victory to kick off a big 2024.

Then there’s the Gold League. Jon Moxley versus Jay White versus Swerve Strickland. This has main event appeal all over it. The show could headline any PPV in any wrestling promotion. Its outcome will have people talking for months.

Yes, there’s a groundswell to see Swerve win the AEW World Championship. His rise with the fans is a story to watch but the question is whether Tony Khan will pull the trigger. He’s been slow to do so in the past, sticking to his “plan,” and even more slow when it comes to crowning a Black world champion in AEW. Which has yet to happen. Swerve should be the man to do it, but is the time to do it now?

Moxley or White getting the victory would create the path for Kingston to have a main event run in early 2024. Samoa Joe is the likely winner of his rematch with MJF at the PPV. Joe versus Kingston is a good build to start the year and has two men who would be well-served as the victor. That would mean they’d have to get out of this match with a win over Swerve. Thus, the need for a triple threat, and the impending threats that Keith Lee continues to make. Those two additions set the tone for a Swerve “defeat” without him taking the actual loss, giving the victory to either White or Moxley.

There is a lot to look forward to on this New Year’s Smash card. The two finals for the Continental Classic will set the tone for AEW’s title picture at the start of 2024 and the fans are in for a treat along the way.