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New Year's Smash took place on the 29th, but it aired under a cloud of smoke after Big Swole's comments post leaving the company and Tony Khan's response. For more on this check out Grapsody's podcast on the subject.
The card itself consists of a standalone fixture in Darby/Bowens, a feud blow off in TayJay vs The Bunny and Ford, and a title match at the top of said card.
Cody Rhodes vs Ethan Page - 1st TNT Championship Defence
Interestingly, this one was a tale of Ethan's heavy Strikes versus Cody's more complex arsenal of Submission and Grapple offence. With over double his opponent's Strikedown Rate, Page was using Strikedown's in almost 'Babyface Comeback' fashion. In another surprise, 'not a heel' -Cody used more Fouls than his 'definitely a heel' opponent.
Tay Conti and Anna Jay vs The Bunny and Penelope Ford
In typical AEW fashion, a long-maligned feud came to a satisfying finish. The heel team of Ford and The Bunny used double the Weapon Attacks of TayJay, who focussed more on hitting big-time Grapples.
Darby Allin vs Anthony Bowens
In a fairly inconsequential match, Darby Allin bested Anthony Bowens via his high-risk aerial offence and perseverance. Until Allin busted out the Dives at the end of the match, Bowens had the advantage in almost all the other offensive metrics.
