Another championship is on the way to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), which Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone announced before Wednesday’s Dynamite. According to AEW’s head honcho, the promotion will unveil a new AEW National Champion in the coming weeks.
In a live video, Khan indicated that there is a rich history with the National Championship, extending back to the days of Georgia Wrestling, which Schiavone was associated with. Khan suggested it’s been 39 years since the last National Championship match.
“In 1985 we merged Midnight Championship Wrestling, Georgia Championship Wrestling, and there was a US Championship and there was a National Championship and these two championships together, were put together, one match at the Omni back in 1986 and it became the US Championship,” Schiavone explained, adding, “We haven’t had a National Champion in almost 40 years.”
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Khan indicated there are promoters all over “looking to book the top AEW stars,” and there are plenty of individuals “chasing AEW gold.” He said he’s wanted to bring it back to TBS for years, and now they will.
He revealed that they’ll have a Casino Gauntlet Match at AEW Full Gear 2025 to determine who will be the “first National Championship on the superstation” TBS since 1986.
Based on their details, the champion can defend this title anywhere in the world. During the live video, Khan mentioned New Japan Strong and Ring of Honor (ROH) as promotions that would be interested in seeing a National Champion appear at their events.
During their discussion, Schiavone mentioned some of the greats who previously held the National Championship, including Paul Orndorff and Tommy Rich. He indicated that Wahoo McDaniel was the last one to hold the championship in 1986.
On AEW Dynamite, the first participants in the upcoming Casino Gauntlet Match were revealed: Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, and Ricochet. Schiavone indicated during an in-ring promo that many others were “lining up backstage to sign contracts” so they could be part of the match.
AEW Full Gear arrives on Saturday, Nov. 22, with the Casino Gauntlet one of several big matches on the card. Others will include Hangman Adam Page vs. Samoan Joe for the AEW World Championship and Mercedes Mone vs Kris Statlander for the AEW Women’s World Championship.
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