It was announced late last week that AEW (All Elite Wrestling) will hold its New Year’s Smash episodes of Dynamite and Collision on Friday, January 1st, and Saturday, January 2nd, instead of the usual Wednesday and Saturday schedule. This change means that Dynamite will go head-to-head with WWE SmackDown.

According to WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select, a source within WWE has stated that the company will not alter its taping schedule. This schedule calls for the New Year’s Day episode of SmackDown to be taped on December 28th, alongside a live episode of RAW. The source indicated that WWE intends to stick to this plan, regardless of AEW's schedule. As a result, the Dynamite episode will compete against a taped SmackDown.

Additionally, the report mentioned internal speculation that the holiday episode of SmackDown is likely to draw lower viewership numbers than a typical live broadcast, regardless of whether it competes with a live episode of AEW Dynamite.

The New Year’s Smash episode of AEW Dynamite will take place at the Gateway Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Meanwhile, the live RAW and taped SmackDown episodes on December 28th will be held at the Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida.