The holidays are here, and while some will be enjoying some time off or hurriedly scrambling to pick up last-minute gifts before Christmas, the talented stars in AEW and WWE will be back in the ring for loaded episodes of AEW Dynamite, WWE SmackDown, and AEW Rampage. During tonight’s episodes of SmackDown and Rampage WWE and AEW revealed the full lineups for their holiday-themed shows next week, and whether you’re a fan of WWE, AEW, or both, you’ve got a lot to look forward to. You can check out all of the matches announced starting on the next slide.
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While there are some big matches, there are only currently two Championship matches in the lineup, including one on SmackDown and one on Rampage. That said, we do have two title-adjacent matches that will affect who will eventually win the title.
For AEW it’s another round, specifically the Semifinals round of the TBS Championship tournament, and this match will decide one half of the current bracket. On the WWE side, a 12 man gauntlet will decide who will get to challenge next for the Intercontinental Championship.
Even the ones that aren’t focused on a title are still great and promise to be entertaining, and you can check out the full lineup on the next slide.
Dynamite – Orange Cassidy vs Adam Cole
Orange Cassidy and Adam Cole have a lot of bad blood for each other at this point, as the Superkliq has been a frequent opponent of the Best Friends. Now Cassidy and Cole will face off one on one next Wednesday, and perhaps this will be the final chapter of this storyline, though I’d bet on at least one more match between the two.
Dynamite – Malakai Black vs Griff Garrison
Malakai Black will also return to the ring next Wednesday when he faces off against Griff Garrison. It will be interesting to see if the newest member of the House of Black interferes in the match, that being Brody King, who recently signed with AEW after Ring of Honor released all of their talent from their contracts.
Christmas Party
To break up the action we will get a Christmas Party, which is hosted by best friends for life Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. and Tony Schiavone. We have no idea what to expect from this, and yet it will probably be delightful.
Dynamite – Nyla Rose vs Ruby Soho
We’ll also get a match between Nyla Rose and Ruby Soho in the TBS Championship Semifinals, and whoever wins this match will go toe to toe with the winner of the second Semifinals match. That match is between Thunder Rosa and Jade Cargill, so we’ll be interested to see how both of these matches shake out.
Dynamite – Trios Match
The last match of Dynamite will be a Trios Match between MJF and FTR vs CM Punk, Darby Allin, and Sting. MJF and CM Punk have been having a war of words over the past few weeks, but it will be great to actually see them in the ring. FTR has some scores to settle with Darby and Sting as well, so this should be quite fun.
SmackDown – Women’s Championship
After weeks of rejecting Toni Storm’s challenges, SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair finally will put her title on the line on a Christmas Eve SmackDown against Storm. For Storm, there would be no better way to end the year, and for Flair, losing would mark an unfortunate turn to close out a stellar year as Champion, but we’ll just have to wait and see who leaves with the title.
SmackDown – 12 Days of Christmas Gauntlet
There will also be a 12 Days of Christmas 12-Man Gauntlet Match, and the winner will earn a title shot at the Intercontinental Championship. The match will include Drew Gulak, Mansoor, Cesaro, Ricochet, Jinder Mahal, Shanky, The Viking Raiders, Sheamus, Sami Zayn, Angel Garza, and Humberto Carrillo. We assume that Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura will be watching very closely.
Rampage – Hook vs Bear Bronson
Kicking off Rampage will be a second anticipated outing for Hook, who earned rave reviews for his Dynamite debut against Fuego Del Sol and even managed to top CM Punk on Pro Wrestling Tees for a bit. He will be facing Bear Bronson for his second match, and knowing Bronson’s previous work, it should be quite entertaining.
Rampage – TNT Championship Match
The big match of the night will be for the TNT Championship, as TNT Champion Sammy Guevara will take on Cody Rhodes for the title. Guevara came out during tonight’s Rampage to lend a little help Rhodes’ way, but it was probably just to keep Rhodes fresh so that he can defeat him next week.
