AEW TNT Championship History

In September 2019, a month before All Elite Wrestling (AEW) launched their weekly television program, 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 on 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 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 semifinals 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 the championship to Cody.

The championship is named after the TNT television network, which airs AEW's flagship program, Dynamite. In the press release about the TNT Championship, AEW President and CEO 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 are all associated with TNT.

The championship belt features six plates on a red leather strap. The center plate prominently features the TNT network logo at the center. Above the TNT logo is AEW's logo, while below the TNT logo is a red banner that says "CHAMPION". The two inner side plates feature "Tara on Techwood", 1050 Techwood Drive in Atlanta, the building that was the original home of TNT. The two outer side plates feature AEW's logo, while a third smaller side plate on the far right side also features AEW's logo. When the belt was unveiled at Double or Nothing on May 23, it had no plating at all, but commentator Tony Schiavone stated that production of the belt had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the final version would have gold plating and be unveiled at a later date. The belt was produced by Ron Edwardsen of Red Leather, who also made the AEW World Tag Team Championship belts. He further said that there would also be nickel plating in addition to gold on the final version of the TNT Championship 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 new design was debuted for Cody's match against Scorpio Sky, where Cody retained.

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