AEW Bash at the Beach was a series of

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

events produced by

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE. AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, w ...

(AEW). The two-part, nine-day event began on January 15, 2020, from the

Watsco Center The Watsco Center (originally named the University of Miami Convocation Center) is an 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The venue hosts concerts, family shows, trade shows, lecture s ...

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...

with a special episode of ''

Dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germa ...

'', which aired as a

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

. The series continued with

Chris Jericho's Rock 'N' Wrestling Rager at Sea Chris Jericho's Rock 'N' Wrestling Rager at Sea is a series of cruise ship experiences held by professional wrestler, musician, author and actor Chris Jericho. The experience features professional wrestling events, musical concerts, stand-up co ...

, with matches from the cruise airing on the January 22 episode of ''Dynamite''. The events continued until January 24. The event takes its name from an old

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...

(WCW)

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

of the same name, but is not a continuation of that chronology, as that library of events is owned by

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

. The event was replaced by

Beach Break A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shells ...

in 2021.

Production

Background

From 1994 to 2000,

(WCW) held a series of

shows called Bash at the Beach, which was created by

Dusty Rhodes Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who most notably worked for the National Wrestling Alliance, Jim Crocket ...

(then known as the World Wrestling Federation) purchased WCW in 2001 and acquired their intellectual property, including the trademark for Bash at the Beach. In 2004/2005, WWE allowed this trademark to expire. Dusty's son

Cody Rhodes Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes (''né'' Runnels; born June 30, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Rhodes is also known for his time in All Elite Wrestling (AEW ...

, who became a wrestler and an executive vice president of

(AEW), trademarked several terms for AEW, including "Bash at the Beach" on March 18, 2019, due to it being one of his father's creations. Cody commented on these filings stating that they were personal and most would not be used by AEW. However, on November 18, 2019, the promotion announced that the January 15, 2020, episode of ''

'' would be a special episode titled Bash at the Beach as part of a ten-day event from

and the ''

Norwegian Pearl ''Norwegian Pearl'' is a of Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), launched in 2006, sailing itineraries primarily around Alaska and the Caribbean. Vessel class ''Norwegian Pearl'' is the third of NCL's four ''Jewel''-class ships. She was preceded by i ...

'' cruise ship from

Norwegian Cruise Line Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), also known in short as Norwegian, is an American cruise line founded in 1966, incorporated in Bermuda and headquartered in Miami. It is the fourth-largest cruise line in the world by passengers, controlling about 8.6 ...

Storylines

Bash at the Beach featured

professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed

heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

villains A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Storylines were produced on AEW's weekly television program, ''Dynamite'', the supplementary online streaming show, ''

Dark Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lu ...

'', and

The Young Bucks The Young Bucks are an American professional wrestling tag team and promoters, consisting of brothers Matthew and Nicholas Massie, who are known by their ring names Matt and Nick Jackson, respectively. They are signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW ...

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

series ''

Being The Elite The Elite is a professional wrestling stable currently appearing in U.S. based Professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). As of December 2022, the line-up has consisted of Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) ...

''.

Reception

Television ratings

Bash at the Beach averaged 940,000 television viewers on

and a 0.38 rating in AEW's

key demographic The key demographic or target demographic is a term in commercial broadcasting that refers to the most desirable demographic group to a given advertiser. Key demographics vary by outlet, time of day, and programming type, but they are generally co ...

Aftermath

Although AEW went ahead and held Bash at the Beach, the trademark that Cody Rhodes had filed was officially denied in August 2020. By November of that year, a settlement was reached between Cody and WWE in which Cody gained the "Cody Rhodes" trademark, which WWE had held onto after his run in that company, in exchange for WWE gaining the WCW event name trademarks that Cody had claimed, including Bash at the Beach. As a result, in 2021, AEW established

to replace Bash at the Beach as their annual midwinter beach-themed event.

Results

AEW World Championship #1 Contender Tournament

References

External links

All Elite Wrestling official website
{{All Elite Wrestling events AEW Beach Break 2020 American television episodes 2020s American television specials 2020 in professional wrestling in Florida 2020 in professional wrestling Bash at the Beach Bash at the Beach Events in Coral Gables, Florida January 2020 events in the United States Professional wrestling in Florida