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WWE New Year's Revolution
WWE New Year's Revolution 2005 logo
Promotion	WWE
Brands	Raw (2005–2007, 2020) SmackDown (2020, 2024)
First event	2005
Signature match	Elimination Chamber match (2005–2006)

WWE New Year's Revolution is a professional wrestling event produced by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. The event was created in 2005 and its name is a play on the Western tradition of New Year's resolutions, being held in early January each year the event is produced.

It was originally held as a pay-per-view (PPV) event from 2005 to 2007. To coincide with WWE's brand extension, New Year's Revolution was held exclusively for wrestlers from the Raw brand for its three years as a PPV event. In 2008, New Year's Revolution was removed from the schedule when the company reduced the number of PPVs per year after the discontinuation of brand-exclusive PPVs following WrestleMania 23 in April 2007. In January 2020, WWE revived the event's name for a series of WWE Live shows for Raw and SmackDown titled the New Year's Revolution Tour; this tour was not held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The name was used again for a special episode of Friday Night SmackDown on January 5, 2024.

The PPV event was notable for featuring the Elimination Chamber match during its first two years. Also notable was the 2006 event, which saw the first Money in the Bank cash-in match. After John Cena had retained the WWE Championship in an Elimination Chamber match, Edge used his Money in the Bank contract and defeated Cena to win the championship.

History

New Year's Revolution was an annual January pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The name was a play on the Western tradition of New Year's resolutions. The first New Year's Revolution took place on January 9, 2005, and aired live on PPV from San Juan, Puerto Rico, which was the first PPV event produced by WWE to be held in Puerto Rico. The main event was an Elimination Chamber match, a special elimination-based professional wrestling match type that was promoted on rare occasions in WWE at that time with a total of six participants. The original Elimination Chamber structure was 16-feet-high and weighed 10-tons. It was composed of two miles of chain, steel grating, and plexiglass pods (two wrestlers started the match while the other four were contained in the pods with one each let into the match at random every five minutes).

The 2006 event also featured an Elimination Chamber match as the main event, which also saw the first Money in the Bank cash-in, where Mr. Money in the Bank Edge used the contract and defeated WWE Champion John Cena right after Cena had retained the title in the Elimination Chamber match. The annual Elimination Chamber match was then moved to the December to Dismember PPV later that year, thus the 2007 New Year's Revolution event did not feature the Elimination Chamber match. The New Year's Revolution PPV was then canceled in 2008, after WWE reduced the number of PPVs per year after the discontinuation of brand-exclusive PPVs following WrestleMania 23 in April 2007.

In 2002, WWE held a draft that split its roster into two distinctive brands of wrestling, Raw and SmackDown, where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform. New Year's Revolution was produced exclusively for wrestlers of the Raw brand all three years the PPV was held. In April 2011, the promotion ceased using its full name with the "WWE" abbreviation becoming an orphaned initialism.

In January 2020, after 13 years since the 2007 PPV, WWE revived the New Year's Revolution name for a series of WWE Live shows called the New Year's Revolution Tour, which were held as supershows, featuring wrestlers from both Raw and SmackDown. The tour began on January 4 and was scheduled for a total of nine shows. The tour was cut short as the ninth and final show, which was scheduled for March 15, had to be canceled due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic just a few days beforehand. The pandemic caused WWE to suspend its live touring schedule until July 2021, thus a New Year's Revolution Tour was not held that year.

While not part of the New Year's Revolution chronology, WWE reintroduced a New Year's-themed event, which took place as the January 6, 2021, episode of NXT entitled New Year's Evil, a name previously used by former rival World Championship Wrestling for a December 1999 episode of Nitro. WWE also produced a 2022 pay-per-view event called Day 1, which unlike New Year's Revolution, it took place on New Year's Day itself, and it was WWE's first PPV and livestreaming event to take place on New Year's Day.

During the December 22, 2023, episode of SmackDown, the brand's General Manager Nick Aldis announced the revival of New Year's Revolution. It was scheduled to be held as a special episode of SmackDown on January 5, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This in turn marked the first SmackDown-branded New Year's Revolution, the first to air as a television special, and the fourth overall to be broadcast on any outlet. It was also the final event in WWE's New Year's Knockout Week, a week-long programming of New Year's-themed shows.

Reception

The 2005 event never reached Billboard.com's top ten list for Recreational Sports DVDs. The first week the event appeared on the Billboard chart, it ranked 19th. The following week, the event ranked 17th, only to drop off the chart the next week. The 2006 event ranked third on its first week in the chart's top ten list. The following week, the DVD reached second on the list, and remained in the top ten for five weeks until the week of April 8, 2006, when the event dropped to 11th. The 2007 event ranked second in its first week in the top ten. The DVD remained in the top ten for four weeks until the week of March 31, 2007, when it ranked 11th.

Canadian Online Explorer's professional wrestling section rated the 2005 event a three out of ten stars. The main event was rated a seven out of ten stars. The 2006 event was given a rating of three out of ten stars also, with the main event being rated six out of ten stars. The 2007 event was rated six out of ten stars, the highest for the PPV's three-year run. The main event for 2007 was given a six out of ten stars rating, the same as the previous year's main event.

Events

Pay-per-view and televised events (2005–2007, 2024)

As a pay-per-view event, only three New Year's Revolutions were held, beginning in 2005 with the final in 2007. All three events were held exclusively for wrestlers from the Raw brand. The 2024 event was a SmackDown-exclusive show as it was held as a television special episode of SmackDown.

New Year's Revolution Tour (2020)

The New Year's Revolution Tour was originally scheduled to be a tour of nine WWE Live shows, however, the final show was canceled due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The ninth and final show had been scheduled to be held on March 15 at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio, but Ohio governor Mike DeWine issued a ban of mass gatherings of over 100 people or more. Below are the eight shows that were held for the 2020 tour. These house shows were held as supershows, featuring wrestlers from both Raw and SmackDown.

See also

• List of WWE pay-per-view events
• WWE Elimination Chamber
• Elimination Chamber

References

1. ^ "New Year's Revolution 2005 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. January 9, 2005. Archived from the original on December 3, 2007. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
2. "The Elimination Chamber's history of destruction". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
3. ^ "New Years Revolution 2006". World Wrestling Entertainment. January 8, 2006. Retrieved July 29, 2008.
4. Tello, Craig (December 3, 2006). "Mission accomplished". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved July 29, 2008.
5. ^ "New Years Revolution 2007". World Wrestling Entertainment. January 7, 2007. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2008.
6. "WWE Pay-Per-Views To Follow WrestleMania Formula". World Wrestling Entertainment. March 18, 2007. Archived from the original on March 19, 2007. Retrieved November 25, 2007.
7. "WWE Entertainment To Make RAW and SMACKDOWN Distinct Television Brands". World Wrestling Entertainment Corporate. May 27, 2002. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
8. Sacco, Justine; Weitz, Michael (April 7, 2011). "The New WWE" (Press release). Connecticut: WWE. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
9. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (December 14, 2019). "WWE Brands Early 2020 Live Events As "New Year's Revolution Tour," Announces May 2020 European Tour". Fightful. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
10. ^ Rose, Bryan (March 12, 2020). "WWE WEEKEND HOUSE SHOWS IN OHIO, TORONTO CANCELED". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
11. Otterson, Joe (May 21, 2021). "WWE to Return to Live Touring in July". Variety. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
12. "NXT to present New Year's Evil on Wednesday, Jan. 6". WWE. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
13. Currier, Joseph (August 24, 2021). "WWE REVEALS NAME OF NEW YEAR'S DAY PPV". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
14. ^ Thomas, Jeremy (December 22, 2023). "WWE Smackdown In Two Weeks To Have 'New Year's Revolution' Theme". 411Mania. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
15. "WWE: New Year's Revolution 2005". Billboard.com. July 29, 2005. Archived from the original on February 4, 2009.
16. "WWE: New Year's Revolution 2005". Billboard.com. August 5, 2005. Archived from the original on February 4, 2009.
17. "WWE: New Year's Revolution 2006". Billboard.com. March 4, 2006. Archived from the original on February 4, 2009.
18. "WWE: New Year's Revolution 2006". Billboard.com. March 11, 2006. Archived from the original on February 4, 2009.
19. "WWE: New Year's Revolution 2006". Billboard.com. April 8, 2006. Archived from the original on February 3, 2009.
20. "WWE: New Year's Revolution 2007". Billboard.com. March 3, 2007. Archived from the original on February 3, 2009.
21. "WWE: New Year's Revolution 2007". Billboard.com. March 31, 2007. Archived from the original on February 3, 2009.
22. ^ Tylwalk, Nick (January 9, 2005). "No Revolution: Triple H prevails". Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
23. ^ Sokol, Chris (January 8, 2006). "Edge surprise champ after Revolution". Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
24. ^ Plummer, Dale (January 7, 2007). "Cena retains, Triple H injured at Revolution". Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
25. Martin, Adam (January 9, 2005). "New Year's Revolution (RAW) PPV Results". WrestleView. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
26. "New Year's Revolution (RAW) PPV Results". WrestleView. January 8, 2006. Retrieved September 12, 2008.
27. Martin, Adam (January 7, 2007). "New Year's Revolution PPV Results". WrestleView. Retrieved September 12, 2008.
28. Barnett, Jake (January 5, 2024). "WWE Friday Night Smackdown results (1/5): Barnett's review of Roman Reigns and Logan Paul's appearances, Randy Orton vs. LA Knight vs. AJ Styles for a shot at the WWE Universal Title at the Royal Rumble". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
29. Chick, John (March 11, 2020). "Ohio to ban mass gatherings including sporting events". theScore. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
30. "WWE New Year's Revolution Supershow (January 4, 2020)". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
31. "WWE New Year's Revolution Supershow (January 5, 2020)". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
32. "WWE New Year's Revolution Supershow (January 11, 2020)". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
33. "WWE New Year's Revolution Supershow (January 12, 2020)". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
34. "WWE New Year's Revolution Supershow (February 8, 2020)". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
35. "WWE New Year's Revolution Supershow (February 9, 2020)". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
36. "WWE New Year's Revolution Supershow (February 15, 2020)". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
37. "WWE New Year's Revolution Supershow (February 16, 2020)". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 11, 2021.

External links

• Official Website

• WWE New Year's Revolution
• Recurring events established in 2005
• Recurring events disestablished in 2007