AEW Holiday Bash is an annual professional wrestling television special produced by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Established in 2020, the event airs in December as AEW's Christmas special. The inaugural 2020 event aired as a special episode of the promotion's flagship weekly television program, Wednesday Night Dynamite, while the 2021 event expanded the special to two nights, with the second part airing as a special episode of Friday Night Rampage. The 2023 event then expanded the special to three nights, with the third part airing as a special episode of Saturday Night Collision.

AEW Holiday Bash
AEW Holiday Bash logo
PromotionsAll Elite Wrestling
First event2020

History

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On December 9, 2020, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) announced that the December 23 episode of their flagship television program, Dynamite, would be a special episode titled Holiday Bash. The Christmas television special was taped on December 17 at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

AEW resumed live touring in July 2021. On December 7 that year, AEW President Tony Khan confirmed that Holiday Bash would return, expanding to a two-part event. The first part aired live on December 22 for Dynamite while the second part aired on tape delay on Christmas Day as a special episode of Rampage—AEW's secondary television program that began airing in August 2021. The event took place at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. While Rampage usually airs on Fridays, for the Holiday Bash special, it was pushed back to Saturday night because of TNT's traditional Christmas Eve marathon showing of A Christmas Story.[2]

The 2022 event retained the two-part format, but this time with Rampage airing in its normal Friday night time slot as there was not a broadcasting conflict like the previous year.[3] The 2023 event then expanded Holiday Bash to a three-part special, also encompassing Saturday Night Collision, AEW's third television program that launched in June 2023.[4]

Events

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# Event Date City Venue Main Event Ref.
1 Holiday Bash (2020) Dynamite:
December 17, 2020
(aired December 23)
Jacksonville, Florida Daily's Place The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) (c) vs. The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster) for the AEW World Tag Team Championship [5]
2 Holiday Bash (2021) Night 1:
Dynamite

December 22, 2021
Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro Coliseum Sting, CM Punk, and Darby Allin vs. The Pinnacle (MJF, Cash Wheeler, and Dax Harwood) [6]
Night 2:
Rampage

December 22, 2021
(aired December 25)
Sammy Guevara (c) vs. Cody Rhodes for the AEW TNT Championship
3 Holiday Bash (2022) Night 1:
Dynamite

December 21, 2022
Freeman Coliseum San Antonio, Texas Jamie Hayter (c) vs. Hikaru Shida for the AEW Women's World Championship [7]
Night 2:
Rampage

December 21, 2022
(aired December 23)
Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett vs. Anthony Bowens and Billy Gunn
4 Holiday Bash (2023) Night 1: Dynamite

December 20, 2023
Paycom Center Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Jon Moxley vs. Jay White in a Gold League match of the AEW Continental Classic tournament [8]
Night 2:
Rampage

December 20, 2023
(aired December 22)
El Hijo del Vikingo (c) vs. Black Taurus for the AAA Mega Championship [9]
Night 3:
Collision

December 23, 2023
Frost Bank Center San Antonio, Texas Andrade El Idolo vs. Eddie Kingston in a Blue League match of the AEW Continental Classic tournament [10]
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Rose, Bryan (December 9, 2020). "AEW ANNOUNCES HOLIDAY BASH, NEW YEAR'S SMASH SPECIAL EVENTS". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  2. ^ Nason, Josh (December 8, 2021). "AEW HOLIDAY BASH SET FOR BOTH DYNAMITE, CHRISTMAS NIGHT RAMPAGE". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  3. ^ Nason, Josh (October 12, 2022). "AEW announces dates & locations for Winter is Coming, Holiday Bash". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on October 15, 2022. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  4. ^ Rose, Bryan (December 16, 2023). "Trios Championship match announced for next week's AEW Collision Holiday Bash". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  5. ^ Beaston, Erik. "AEW Dynamite Holiday Bash Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights". Bleacher Report.
  6. ^ "Christmas Party And New Matches Announced For AEW Dynamite Holiday Bash".
  7. ^ Nason, Josh (October 12, 2022). "AEW announces dates & locations for Winter is Coming, Holiday Bash". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on October 15, 2022. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  8. ^ Powell, Jason (December 20, 2023). "AEW Dynamite results (12/20): Powell's live review of Jon Moxley vs. Jay White, Swerve Strickland vs. Rush, and Mark Briscoe vs. Jay Lethal in Continental Classic matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  9. ^ Murphy, Don (December 22, 2023). "AEW Rampage results (12/22): Murphy's review of Orange Cassidy vs. Rocky Romero for the AEW International Title, El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Black Taurus for the AAA Mega Title, Matt and Jeff Hardy vs. The Kingdom". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  10. ^ Powell, Jason (December 23, 2023). "AEW Collision results (12/23): Powell's live review of Bryan Danielson vs. Brody King, Eddie Kingston vs. Daniel Garcia, and Andrade El Idolo vs. Claudio Castagnoli in Continental Classic matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
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