Misplaced Pages

#725274

85-412: In September 2019, a month before All Elite Wrestling (AEW) launched their first weekly television program, Dynamite , then-AEW Executive Vice President and wrestler Cody teased that the promotion would eventually debut a television championship , but their focus at that time was on their other recently established titles. In February 2020, wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer directly asked Cody about

170-700: A Face of the Revolution ladder match that was won by Wardlow . Throughout mid-2022, he largely competed in tag team matches alongside Starks; at Double or Nothing in May 2022 they unsuccessfully challenged Jurassic Express for the AEW World Tag Team Championship in a triple threat match that also featured Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland . At Dynamite: Fight for the Fallen on July 27, 2022, Hobbs turned on Starks after Starks lost

255-495: A spiritual successor to All In. At the event, the AEW Women's World Championship belt was unveiled and in the main event, Chris Jericho defeated "Hangman" Adam Page to become the inaugural AEW World Champion. On September 19, TNT's website listed AEW's show as AEW Dynamite with a one-hour preview show scheduled for October 1 at 8 p.m. On October 2, Dynamite debuted on TNT which averaged 1.409 million viewers, which made it

340-608: A "Road to..." and "Countdown to..." series of videos on its official YouTube channel. The videos consist of interviews, video packages, and backstage segments. The series is used to hype pre-existing matches, as well as create new rivalries. In November 2019, AEW announced Bash at the Beach , a nine-day series of events, featuring two episodes of Dynamite , including one aboard Chris Jericho's Rock 'N' Wrestling Rager at Sea . In February 2021, AEW announced their newest show AEW Dark: Elevation , which began airing on March 15. The show

425-636: A $ 175 million contract extension for Dynamite on TNT through 2023 and that AEW would be launching an upcoming second television weekly show, later revealed as AEW Rampage . AEW has a training facility known as the Nightmare Factory, which is co-owned by Cody Rhodes (the facility's name being an ode to his nickname) and AEW wrestler/coach Q. T. Marshall , who also serves as head trainer. As other sports cancellations and postponements were being announced in March 2020, AEW began to be impacted by

510-553: A custom championship belt in the colors of the Bulgarian flag, along with his new persona, "The Redeemer". The plates were on a white leather strap and the center plate was the same; however, the red banner was changed to green. The two inner side plates were modified to display the Coat of Arms of his hometown, Plovdiv , Bulgaria. Below the arms, the text "Древен и Вечен" (Bulgarian: Dreven i Vechen ), which means "Ancient and Eternal,"

595-504: A deal for a weekly primetime show airing live on TNT , the network that formerly had broadcast WCW's Monday Nitro during the Monday Night War (1995–2001). CBS Sports described AEW as "the first company with major financial backing to take a swing at beginning to compete with WWE on a major level in nearly two decades". On May 25, 2019, AEW produced their first-ever pay-per-view (PPV), Double or Nothing. It took place at

680-530: A full capacity crowd since March 2020. In May 2021, AEW announced that they would be returning to live touring, beginning with a special episode of Dynamite titled Road Rager on July 7 in Miami , Florida , in turn becoming the first major professional wrestling promotion to resume live touring during the COVID-19 pandemic. Road Rager was also the first in a four-week span of special Dynamite episodes called

765-543: A legal battle with WWE over the trademark for the name. During the Brodie Lee Celebration of Life , which aired as the December 30, 2020 episode of Dynamite , AEW announced that they had retired the red strap version of the title belt that had been used up to that point to honor Huber, whose ring name was Mr. Brodie Lee , the second TNT Champion. Lee unexpectedly died on December 26 and his final match

850-404: A new television program beginning on March 29 called AEW: All Access . "All Access" was a mini-series and ran six episodes, airing from March 29 to May 10, 2023. It was a reality television show about the lives of the promotion's wrestlers and featured behind-the-scenes footage. The program aired immediately after Dynamite at 10 p.m. ET on TBS. Though Khan stated that the show performed well and

935-500: A pay-per-view that received critical acclaim; with a live paid attendance number of 72,265, it became one of the highest attended events in professional wrestling history . The event is also notable for being CM Punk's final AEW event, as he was fired with cause by Khan and the AEW Discipline Committee, following a legitimate backstage altercation with Jack Perry ; Perry was also later suspended indefinitely. At

SECTION 10

#1732791987726

1020-604: A rematch for the championship at Battle of the Belts I on January 8, 2022; however, Cody was pulled from the event as he had been in contact with family who had tested positive for COVID-19 , thus requiring him to quarantine. Guevara instead faced Cody's brother Dustin Rhodes to determine an interim champion . Guevara defeated Dustin and served as the interim champion until the January 26 episode of Dynamite . In that episode, which

1105-538: A result. This was turned into a storyline for his title defense against Powerhouse Hobbs on the March 8 episode of Dynamite , as the week prior, Hobbs had won the Face of the Revolution ladder match to earn a title shot against Wardlow. Q. T. Marshall and his QTV crew took credit for the crime with Wardlow requesting his title defense against Hobbs to be a Falls Count Anywhere match which Hobbs won by technical knockout thanks to an assist by Marshall. Although viewed as

1190-533: A secondary title to the AEW World Championship by fans and media of the professional wrestling industry, Tony Khan stated that he takes exception to calling it a secondary or mid-card title. He said that he does not book the championship as a mid-card title, saying "I'm looking at it as a top championship that stars hold". Despite this, Samoa Joe called himself the "King of Television" for his TNT Championship reigns when he simultaneously held it with

1275-544: A series of singles and tag team victories on episodes of AEW Dark and AEW Dark: Elevation . At the Double or Nothing pay-per-view in May 2021, Hobbs competed in a Casino Battle Royale that was won by Jungle Boy . On July 14, 2021 on the Fyter Fest television special, Hobbs aided stablemate Ricky Starks in an FTW Championship victory over Brian Cage, thus expelling Cage from Team Taz; Hobbs went on to defeat Cage on

1360-712: A stadium. The event would also become AEW's most attended event, with over 20,000 spectators. On August 20, 2021, CM Punk joined AEW. It was Punk's comeback to professional wrestling after leaving WWE in 2014. On August 27, 2021, it was revealed that Dark would begin being taped at its own set within Universal Studios Florida in Orlando at Soundstage 21 . On the March 2 episode of Dynamite , Tony Khan announced that he had purchased Ring of Honor from Sinclair Broadcast Group , including its brand assets, intellectual property, and video library. It

1445-466: A third smaller side plate on the far right also features the promotion's logo. Initially unveiled at Double or Nothing on May 23, the belt had no plating due to production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic . It was revealed that the final version would have gold plating and be unveiled at a later date. The belt was produced by AEW's primary belt maker, Ron Edwardsen of Red Leather. He mentioned that

1530-646: A third weekly television show titled AEW Collision , with its first episode featuring Punk's return to the company and Luchasaurus capturing the AEW TNT Championship from Wardlow . The show airs live, with some exceptions, and premiered on TNT on Saturday, June 17, 2023. In June 2023 AEW released AEW Fight Forever after years of development. The game received mixed reviews, being praised for its throwback style of arcade gameplay but criticized for limited presentation, modes and customization. In August 2023, AEW held All In at Wembley Stadium ,

1615-465: Is Daniel Garcia, who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Jack Perry at Full Gear on November 23, 2024. All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling ( AEW ) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida . It is owned by father and son duo Shahid and Tony Khan , with the latter serving as president and chief executive officer . AEW

1700-560: Is all associated with TNT." In January 2022, Dynamite moved to TNT's sister channel TBS , which was also owned by WarnerMedia (later becoming Warner Bros. Discovery ), while Rampage remained on TNT. In addition to Rampage remaining on the channel, AEW agreed to produce quarterly television specials on TNT ( Battle of the Belts ), with the championship defended on these specials. Another weekly program on TNT called Collision also premiered in June 2023. While it had been speculated that

1785-666: Is an American professional wrestler . He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Powerhouse Hobbs and is a former AEW TNT Champion . Hobson attended Sequoia High School in Redwood City, California , where he played football and other sports. As a youth, he attended professional wrestling events, including SuperBrawl VIII in the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California . After graduating from high school, Hobson attended

SECTION 20

#1732791987726

1870-1021: Is headquartered at EverBank Stadium , the home of the National Football League 's Jacksonville Jaguars , which is also owned by Shahid Khan. Its flagship annual pay-per-view (PPV) event is All In . AEW was founded on January 1, 2019 by Tony Khan with the help of professional wrestlers Matt and Nick Jackson , Cody Rhodes , and Kenny Omega , who all served as co- executive vice presidents . After signing with WarnerMedia that May, AEW launched its flagship weekly television series Dynamite on October 2, 2019, which aired on TNT until December 29, 2021 and now airs on TBS since January 5, 2022. AEW produces two other weekly television programs, Rampage (which premiered in August 2021) and Collision (launched in June 2023), as well as seasonal programming and regular television specials, including All Access , Overdrive , and Battle of

1955-580: The AEW TNT Championship that was won by Samoa Joe. In March 2023, Hobbs won a Face of the Revolution ladder match, giving him a shot at the TNT Championship. On the following episode of Dynamite , Hobbs (with assistance from Q. T. Marshall ) defeated Wardlow in a falls count anywhere match to win the TNT Championship. Hobbs subsequently jointed Marshall's "QTV" stable. On the April 19, 2023 episode of Dynamite , Wardlow defeated Hobbs to regain

2040-571: The All Out pay-per-view , which was won by Lance Archer . His performance in the match impressed AEW president Tony Khan , and he was signed to a contract with AEW. On the September 16, 2020 episode of Dynamite , Hobbs saved AEW World Champion Jon Moxley from an attack by Brian Cage and Ricky Starks . On the October 7 episode of Dynamite , Hobbs unsuccessfully challenged Cage for

2125-751: The All Pro Wrestling (APW) professional wrestling school in Hayward, California . He made his professional wrestling debut on July 18, 2009 at APW's "Gym Wars" event under the ring name "Will Rood". Hobson wrestled for APW over the following decade, during which time he held the APW Worldwide Internet Championship three times. He also held the APW Tag Team Championship thrice, teaming with Marcus Lewis as "Lion Power". In 2014 he briefly used

2210-637: The American onset of the COVID-19 pandemic . Following the suspension of the 2019-20 NBA season after two players tested positive for the virus, the March 18 episode of Dynamite was held without spectators from Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida. That year's Double or Nothing was supposed to take place on May 23, but on April 8, the MGM Grand Garden Arena announced that they had canceled all events up through May 31 due to

2295-525: The FTW Championship , delivering a clothesline to the back of Starks' neck followed by a spinebuster . The following week, Taz formally disbanded Team Taz. At All Out in September 2022, Hobbs defeated Starks; later that month, on Grand Slam , Starks defeated Hobbs in a lights out match . At Full Gear in November 2022, Hobbs faced Samoa Joe and Wardlow in a three-way dance for

2380-442: The FTW Championship . On the November 18 episode of Dynamite , Hobbs turned heel by aligning himself with Team Taz ( Taz , Brian Cage, and Ricky Starks), joining them in an attack on Cody Rhodes and Darby Allin . Later that month, his ring name was tweaked to "Powerhouse Hobbs". At the December 2, 2020 television special Winter Is Coming , Hobbs and Starks lost to Rhodes and Allin. Throughout early 2021, Hobbs scored

2465-618: The Hobart Arena in Troy, Ohio . Prior to House Rules , AEW had only held one house show, titled The House Always Wins , which occurred at Daily's Place in Jacksonville on April 9, 2021. On April 5, 2023, AEW announced that they would revive the All In name—which Tony Khan acquired the rights to after purchasing ROH—for AEW's United Kingdom debut to be held at London 's Wembley Stadium on August 27, 2023. On May 17, 2023, AEW announced

2550-574: The IWGP World Heavyweight Championship . Hobbs sustained a knee injury during the match that required surgery. On the November 6 episode of Dynamite , Hobbs returned as the mystery partner for Ricochet , defeating Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher and ending his tenure with the Don Callis Family. Hobbs wrestles in a "powerhouse" style. His finishing moves have included a falling powerslam named

2635-486: The Los Angeles Lakers . The "Lakers belt" had a gold strap and the word "Champion" on a purple banner. Emblazoned on the end of the strap between the snap buttons was "8-24", referring to the numbers worn by late Lakers star Kobe Bryant . The title's original designer, Ron Edwardsen, also designed the "Lakers belt". Following reigning champion Jack Perry 's match on August 17, 2024, episode of Collision in

AEW TNT Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue

2720-678: The MGM Grand Garden Arena in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada and saw the debut of Jon Moxley , formerly known as Dean Ambrose in WWE. Also during Double or Nothing, pro-wrestling veteran Bret Hart unveiled the AEW World Championship belt. During the summer, AEW produced two more events, Fyter Fest in June and Fight for the Fallen in July. On August 31, 2019, AEW produced their second pay-per-view event, All Out as

2805-546: The ROH World Television Championship . Between 2022 and 2023, the championship had several title changes with short reigns, with journalists subsequently calling it a "hot potato" championship. The championship is named after the TNT television network, which originally aired AEW's then-two weekly programs, Dynamite and Rampage , the latter of which premiered in August 2021. TNT's parent company at

2890-601: The "Welcome Back" tour, which continued with the two-part Fyter Fest on July 14 and 21 in Cedar Park and Garland, Texas , respectively, and then concluded with Fight for the Fallen on July 28 in Charlotte, North Carolina . In June, AEW announced that the September 22 episode of Dynamite would be another special episode titled Grand Slam and would be AEW's New York City debut, a city primarily known as home territory for WWE, as well as their first full event held in

2975-405: The "World's Most Dangerous Slam", a spinebuster , an Oklahoma Stampede , a frog splash , a torture rack , a burning hammer , and an emerald flowsion named the "Town Business". Hobson was raised by his grandparents, and he states that his love of professional wrestling came through his grandparents who regularly watched and attended wrestling shows at the Cow Palace . When Hobson

3060-611: The American professional wrestling promotion Ring of Honor (ROH) could not sell 10,000 tickets for a wrestling event, a feat that no U.S.-based wrestling promotion besides the dominant WWE had accomplished since WWE's defunct major competitor, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), in 1999. The comment was responded to by professional wrestlers Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks (the tag team of Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson), who were then top stars signed to ROH and good friends both inside and outside of professional wrestling as part of

3145-571: The April 8 episode of Dynamite and concluded at Double or Nothing on May 23. The TNT Championship belt consists of six plates, which were originally on a red leather strap. The central plate prominently features the TNT network logo, with AEW's logo above and a red banner below saying "CHAMPION". The two inner side plates feature "Tara on Techwood", 1050 Techwood Drive in Atlanta , the original home of TNT. The two outer side plates feature AEW's logo, while

3230-404: The Belts . It previously produced the streaming series Dark and Dark: Elevation , which aired on YouTube until April 2023; it additionally airs multiple other YouTube-exclusive programs. In addition to All In, AEW's largest PPV shows are All Out , Double or Nothing , Full Gear , and Revolution , which are produced quarterly. It is considered one of the largest wrestling promotions in

3315-465: The Belts was moved to Friday nights, airing immediately after Rampage at 11 p.m. ET to avoid potential counterprogramming, particularly against WWE's pay-per-views. Beginning with seventh special on July 15, 2023, Battle of the Belts would be moved back to Saturday nights and would air live after Collision . On the February 22, 2023, episode of Dynamite , Tony Khan and Adam Cole announced

3400-408: The Don Callis Family (Hobbs, Konosuke Takeshita , and Kyle Fletcher ) and Brian Cage lost to Jericho, Omega, Kota Ibushi , and Paul Wight in a street fight . At Worlds End the following month, Hobbs, Takeshita, Big Bill and Ricky Starks lost to Jericho, Darby Allin , Sammy Guevara , and Sting . On the April 24, 2024 episode of Dynamite , Hobbs unsuccessfully challenged Jon Moxley for

3485-464: The Elite , a YouTube web series created by and featuring The Elite. Also announced in the episode was Double or Nothing , AEW's inaugural event and sequel to All In. On January 2, 2019, Cody and The Young Bucks officially signed with the promotion as competitors as well as serving as AEW's co- Executive vice presidents , while entrepreneur, football executive, and longtime wrestling fan Tony Khan

AEW TNT Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue

3570-616: The PCW Tag Team Championship with Mitch Valentine as the "Dream Team"). In 2016, Hobson made a one-off appearance for WWE , losing to Baron Corbin in a dark match in the SAP Center in San Jose, California . In July 2020, Hobson began to work for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as "Will Hobbs", wrestling on its YouTube show AEW Dark . On September 5, 2020, Hobbs competed in a 21-man Casino Battle Royale at

3655-496: The September 1 episode of Dynamite . On the September 15, 2021 episode of Dynamite , Team Taz attacked CM Punk while he was on commentary, resulting in a match between Hobbs and Punk at the AEW Grand Slam television special (Punk's first televised match in over seven years), which was won by Punk. For the remainder of the year, Hobbs wrestled primarily on AEW Dark . In March 2022 at Revolution , Hobbs competed in

3740-403: The U.S. and Canada, and carried by all major satellite providers. On May 8, 2019, AEW reached a media rights deal with British media company ITV plc to broadcast AEW shows on ITV4 with pay-per-views being broadcast on ITV Box Office starting with Double or Nothing on May 25, 2019. However, after ITV Box Office ceased operations in January 2020, ITV no longer broadcasts AEW pay-per-views in

3825-565: The UK. On February 19, 2020, AEW reached a new media rights deal with German media company Sky Deutschland (which previously broadcast WWE and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling shows) to broadcast AEW pay-per-views on Sky Select Event . On summer 2020, all AEW programs (with the exception of AEW Collision) have been broadcast in Italy by Sky Italia through its sports' channels. Powerhouse Hobbs William Hobson (born January 23, 1991)

3910-507: The United States. Beginning in January, AEW's weekly television programs will be simulcast on Max. Later in 2025, AEW pay-per-views will also become available for purchase and streaming on Max. Although they will remain available via television providers and other platforms, they will have a discounted price on Max, and Max will be promoted as the main home of AEW pay-per-views. Prior to Dynamite and pay-per-view events, AEW released

3995-742: The aftermath, all involved were suspended, Omega and the Bucks were stripped of their AEW World Trios Championship and Punk was stripped of the AEW World Championship. Steel's contract was terminated by AEW a month later, The Bucks and Omega returned at Full Gear and Punk returned the following June after undergoing surgery for an injury from his match with Moxley. On February 1, 2023, AEW announced that they would be expanding its live events schedule and would begin doing house shows , with its house show series titled AEW: House Rules . AEW's first House Rules event took place on March 18 at

4080-437: The appearance of former AEW wrestler Sting , and the in-ring return of English wrestler and London native Nigel McGuinness following his retirement in 2011 and subsequent transition into color commentary. On October 2, 2024, AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced a multi-year contract extension; the contract maintains AEW's existing programs on TBS and TNT, but adds digital rights for WBD's streaming platform Max in

4165-468: The beginning of the " Wednesday Night Wars ". Prior to and after the episodes, untelevised matches were filmed to air on AEW Dark on the following Tuesdays (except before PPV events, where the episodes aired Fridays) on AEW's YouTube channel. On November 9, AEW produced their third pay-per-view event, Full Gear . In the main event, Jon Moxley defeated Kenny Omega in an unsanctioned Lights Out match. On January 15, 2020, WarnerMedia and AEW announced

4250-417: The belt design was retired, not the championship itself; a new black strap version of the belt was debuted by champion Darby Allin during Night 1 of the special New Year's Smash episode of Dynamite on January 6, 2021. During the special Holiday Bash episode of Rampage on December 25, 2021, Cody Rhodes defeated Sammy Guevara to become a record three-time TNT Champion. The two were scheduled to have

4335-406: The build to his defense against Darby Allin in a Coffin match at All In on August 25, Perry put his opponent Danny Orion in a body bag with Allin's name on it, along with the standard TNT Championship belt, which he spat on. Perry then unveiled his custom championship belt to accompany his "Scapegoat" persona, featuring the same design but completely spray painted black with red paint splattered on

SECTION 50

#1732791987726

4420-401: The championship to Cody. His first reign with the title included an 'open challenge' where he would defend the title on a near-weekly televised basis, even to independent wrestlers outside the promotion. These performances notably led to the signings of Ricky Starks and Eddie Kingston . In November during Cody's second reign as TNT Champion, his ring name was lengthened to Cody Rhodes following

4505-656: The conclusion of the All In event in London, AEW announced that it would return to Wembley Stadium on August 25, 2024, with tickets going on sale on December 1, 2023. All In subsequently took place at Wembley Stadium as scheduled, coinciding with the United Kingdom's August Bank Holiday weekend. The event was notable for featuring the AEW debut of former WWE wrestler Ricochet , the return of British wrestler Jamie Hayter , who had been out with an injury since May 2023,

4590-452: The final version of the TNT Championship would have both gold and nickel plating, as well as a relief TNT logo. The completed version of the belt was shown on AEW's Twitter just a few hours before the August 12 episode of Dynamite , where the finished design debuted for Cody's match against Scorpio Sky where Cody retained. After the unexpected passing of Mr. Brodie Lee, the championship's second title holder, in December 2020, AEW retired

4675-413: The first-ever AEW TNT Champion. The tournament began on the April 8 episode of Dynamite with the final scheduled for Double or Nothing on May 23. On the April 29 episode, Cody and Lance Archer won their respective semifinal matches, setting up the inaugural championship match. At Double or Nothing, Cody defeated Archer to become the inaugural champion. Former professional boxer Mike Tyson presented

4760-488: The forecourt of the TIAA Bank Field , where they announced talents that were going to perform as part of the promotion, including former ROH wrestlers the team of SoCal Uncensored ( Christopher Daniels , Scorpio Sky , and Frankie Kazarian ), "Hangman" Adam Page , independent wrestlers Britt Baker , Joey Janela , MJF , Penelope Ford , and former WWE wrestlers Pac and Chris Jericho . On February 7, 2019,

4845-462: The group Bullet Club (and later part of the sub-Bullet Club faction, The Elite ). They promoted and held an independent professional wrestling event called All In in September 2018, featuring wrestlers from ROH as well as other promotions. The event sold out in 30 minutes and had the largest audience in attendance for a professional wrestling show in the United States held and organized by promoters not affiliated with WWE or WCW since 1993. The event

4930-414: The group held a press conference where tickets were released for Double or Nothing. Other big announcements included Kenny Omega joining as a wrestler and the company's fourth co-Executive Vice President, as well as the signings of Sammy Guevara , The Lucha Brothers ( Pentagón Jr. and Rey Fénix ) and Best Friends ( Trent Beretta and Chuck Taylor ). On May 15, 2019, AEW and WarnerMedia announced

5015-522: The largest television debut on TNT in five years. Also on October 2, WWE's NXT would make its two-hour debut on USA Network (the previous two episodes featured the first hour on USA with the second hour on the WWE Network ), and they averaged 891,000 viewers. Dynamite beat out NXT in viewership and more than doubled its competition in the key adults 18–49 demographic, scoring 878,000 viewers compared to NXT ' s 414,000. This would also mark

5100-410: The launch of All Elite Wrestling. Names filed for trademark included: All Elite Wrestling, AEW All Out, All Out, AEW, Double or Nothing, Tuesday Night Dynamite, AEW Double or Nothing, and several logos. In December 2018, Cody, The Young Bucks, and several other wrestlers left ROH. The official announcement of AEW's creation came at midnight Eastern Time on January 1, 2019, in an episode of Being

5185-426: The main plate (mimicking blood) and a warped and tattered leather strap. Perry changed the championship via blacksmithing , altering the metal, warping the leather strap, and then painting it. After winning the title from Jack Perry, Daniel Garcia returned to the standard championship belt. As of November 28, 2024, there have been 25 reigns between 14 champions and one vacancy. Cody Rhodes, then known simply as Cody,

SECTION 60

#1732791987726

5270-450: The pandemic. At that point, Nevada had been in a state of emergency since March 12, banning all public gatherings indefinitely. In response, AEW announced that Double or Nothing would still proceed as planned but from Daily's Place, as well as TIAA Bank Field for the main event match. On April 13, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had deemed AEW, like WWE, an essential business critical to the state's economy, and had added an exception under

5355-477: The possibility of the promotion adding a secondary championship. Although he did not confirm or deny it, Cody did not rule out the possibility of a secondary or "mid-card" title debuting that year. The following month on March 30 on AEW's YouTube series Road to Dynamite , a secondary championship was officially announced. AEW play-by-play commentator and senior producer Tony Schiavone revealed that there would be an eight-man, single-elimination tournament to crown

5440-414: The promotion announced AEW Games , the company's video game brand. AEW revealed that three games were in development; AEW Casino: Double or Nothing and AEW Elite GM for mobile devices, and AEW Fight Forever developed by former WWE 2K developer Yuke's . For the Double or Nothing pay-per-view in May 2021, the venue was raised to full capacity, making it the first time AEW held an event with

5525-423: The red strap version of the championship belt that had been used up to that point to honor Lee, similar to how sports teams retire a number . During night one of the special New Year's Smash episode of Dynamite on January 6, 2021, a new belt was unveiled by Darby Allin. The new belt features the same design as the previous one but on a black leather strap instead of red. After Sammy Guevara defeated Miro to win

5610-459: The return of ticketed fans to live events on August 20, following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines including wearing masks, physical distancing, and temperature checks. Beginning with their August 27 episode of Dynamite , they allowed up to 10 percent capacity at Daily's Place and up to 15 percent capacity starting with that year's All Out . On November 10, 2020,

5695-724: The ring name "Will.I.IS"; in 2016 he changed his ring name to "Will Hobbs". Between 2011 and 2020 Hobson also appeared with multiple independent promotions, principally in the San Francisco Bay Area . These included Championship Wrestling from Hollywood (where he held the UWN Tag Team Championship with Damien Grundy as "Cold Cold War"), Gold Rush Pro Wrestling (where he held the GRPW Dynamite Division Championship), and Pro Championship Wrestling (where he held

5780-486: The roster, including Colt Cabana , Adam Page and AEW Executive Vice Presidents Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks. After Punk's portion of the scrum concluded, it later emerged that Punk and his friend Ace Steel had a legitimate brawl with Omega, the Young Bucks and Christopher Daniels following the Bucks and Omega storming into the former's locker room. The incident was dubbed by fans and reporters as "Brawl Out". In

5865-474: The state's stay-at-home order for employees of a "professional sports and media production" that is closed to the public and has a national audience. In an interview on the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Tony Khan stated the pandemic has deprived AEW millions of dollars in revenue from live events. On August 3, 2020, Jazwares released the first line of AEW action figures and toys. AEW announced

5950-416: The time, WarnerMedia , requested AEW to create the title and have it named as the TNT Championship. In the press release about the title, Tony Khan stated: "It's only fitting that the champion and the title belt will carry the logo of the globally-respected TNT brand, and that they'll represent not only AEW but also the great quality programming, massive reach, and storied history in the wrestling business that

6035-419: The title on the September 29, 2021, episode of Dynamite , Guevara was presented with an updated design of the standard championship belt to replace Miro's custom belt. This new belt returned to the design of the standard black strap version introduced by Darby Allin but with rhinestones added in the circular area behind the relief TNT logo. The original designer of the TNT Championship, Ron Edwardsen, also created

6120-549: The title would be renamed to the TBS Championship, Cody Rhodes confirmed that it would not be renamed, and instead, a separate AEW TBS Championship was established for the women's division. The first half of the TNT Championship Tournament bracket was announced on the March 31, 2020, episode of Dark , with the second half revealed on the following night's Dynamite . The tournament began on

6205-560: The title. In July 2023, Hobbs left QTV. In July 2023, Hobbs competed in the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament , defeating Dustin Rhodes in the quarter-finals before losing to Ricky Starks in the semi-finals of the tournament. At All Out in September 2023, Hobbs lost to Miro . In October 2023, Hobbs joined the Don Callis Family , attacking Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega . In November 2023,

6290-408: The updated belt, which featured 1,577 rhinestones. Edwardsen nicknamed it as the "TNT Bling" belt. Although initially a custom version for Guevara, other champions held this version until January 2023. After Allin defeated Samoa Joe to win his second TNT Championship, the title's design changed back to the mirror-finish nickel plating behind the TNT logo. At Fyter Fest on July 14, 2021, Miro unveiled

6375-606: The world, ahead of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and second only to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in terms of annual revenue. In 2024, AEW was ranked by Forbes as the third most valuable combat sports organization in the world, with an estimated value of $ 2 billion , behind the Ultimate Fighting Championship and WWE. Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s In May 2017, professional wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer commented that

6460-401: Was a special episode titled Beach Break , Guevara faced and defeated Cody in a ladder match to determine the undisputed TNT Champion. On March 5, 2023, at Revolution , Wardlow defeated Samoa Joe to win the championship for a second time. Three days later, and initially not as part of a storyline, Wardlow's rental car was broken into; both his gear and the championship belt were stolen as

6545-443: Was added. Miro's custom belt was made by Belts By Dan. On the May 20, 2022, episode of Rampage , Sammy Guevara, Tay Conti , and Frankie Kazarian destroyed the standard belt they stole from reigning champion Scorpio Sky. The following week on the May 27 episode, Dan Lambert and Ethan Page presented Sky with a custom version of the championship belt in the colors of Sky's hometown and favorite National Basketball Association team,

6630-510: Was announced as the president of the company. Tony and his father, Shahid , were reportedly backing the promotion as lead investors. The Khans are billionaires and part of the ownership group of the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL team and Fulham F.C. . Cody's wife, Brandi Rhodes , was announced as the company's chief brand officer on January 3, 2019. On January 8, 2019, the company held its inaugural press conference on

6715-425: Was attended by 11,263 people. The event was acclaimed, and it led to much online speculation that Cody and The Young Bucks would expand their ambitions and create their own professional wrestling promotion or do a second All In event. Reportedly, people in the television industry were also very impressed with the show. On November 5, 2018, several trademarks were filed in Jacksonville, Florida , that indicated

6800-399: Was clarified through a press release issued that night that the acquisition was made through an entity separate from AEW and wholly-owned by Khan. In a media scrum following AEW's Revolution PPV on March 6, Khan revealed that he eventually planned to run ROH separately from AEW, and also indicated that ROH could be used as a developmental brand for AEW. On May 4, the sale of ROH to Tony Khan

6885-497: Was officially completed. Later in 2022, AEW promoted its first events outside of the United States, when they held a live broadcast of Dynamite on October 12 in Toronto , Ontario , Canada , followed by a Rampage taping the next night at the same venue. Following the 2022 All Out pay-per-view, then-reigning AEW World Champion CM Punk used the post-PPV media scrum to air out-of-character grievances against multiple members of

6970-400: Was on the October 7 episode of Dynamite where he unsuccessfully defended the TNT Championship against Cody Rhodes in a Dog Collar match . The retired TNT Championship belt was given to Huber's son, Brodie Lee Jr. (real name Brodie Huber), who was honored as being "TNT Champion for life" by AEW President and Chief Executive Officer Tony Khan . AEW commentator Tony Schiavone clarified that only

7055-425: Was positively received, there is no confirmation of a second season. With the addition of Collision to AEW's weekly lineup, which began broadcasting on TNT on June 17, 2023, AEW ended their weekly online shows Dark and Dark: Elevation . Broadcast Online Former AEW pay-per-view events are available on Triller TV in other international markets. They are also available via traditional PPV outlets in

7140-462: Was the inaugural champion. Rhodes, Sammy Guevara, and Wardlow are tied for the most reigns at three. Darby Allin's first reign is the longest at 186 days and he also has the longest combined reign at 214 days, while Adam Copeland 's first reign is the shortest at 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Daniel Garcia is the youngest champion at the age of 26, while Copeland is the oldest, winning the title a second time at 50 years, 142 days old. The current champion

7225-413: Was uploaded to their YouTube channel on Mondays at 7 p.m. ET as a complement to AEW Dark . As part of the deal to move Dynamite to TBS, AEW agreed to produce quarterly television specials on TNT that would air on Saturdays at 8 p.m. ET. The series was titled AEW Battle of the Belts , with the first special airing on January 8, 2022. Beginning with the fourth special on October 7, 2022, Battle of

#725274