All Elite Wrestling‘s TNT Championship was established on 23 May 2020 and was the fourth championship to be officially incarnated into the company.
The TNT Championship has effectively taken on the unofficial title of AEW’s mid-card workhorse championship, similar to that of the Intercontinental Championship in WWE.
As of this writing, there have been a combined twenty AEW TNT Championship reigns – plus an additional interim champion – shared among ten of AEW’s top stars.
All of these champions offered something different when serving as the champion, attempting to elevate not only themselves but the championship and the challengers who stood before them as well.
Let’s take a look at every TNT Champion so far…
| No. | Champion | Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Notes |
| 1 | Cody Rhodes | May 23rd, 2020 | Double or Nothing | Jacksonville, FL | 1 | 82 | Defeated Lance Archer in the finals of an eight-man single-elimination tournament to become the inaugural champion. |
| 2 | Mr. Brodie Lee | August 13th, 2020 | Dynamite | Jacksonville, FL | 1 | 55 | |
| 3 | Cody Rhodes | October 7th, 2020 | Dynamite | Jacksonville, FL | 2 | 31 | This was a Dog Collar match. |
| 4 | Darby Allin | November 7th, 2020 | Full Gear | Jacksonville, FL | 1 | 186 | |
| 5 | Miro | May 12th, 2021 | Dynamite | Jacksonville, FL | 1 | 140 | |
| 6 | Sammy Guevara | September 29th, 2021 | Dynamite | Rochester, NY | 1 | 84 | |
| 7 | Cody Rhodes | December 22nd, 2021 | Rampage: Holiday Bash | Greensboro, NC | 3 | 35 | |
| — | Sammy Guevara (Interim champion) | January 8th, 2022 | Battle of the Belts I | Charlotte, NC | — | 18 | Cody Rhodes was originally scheduled to defend the title against Guevara at this event, but was pulled due to COVID-19-related issues. Guevara was instead scheduled to face Dustin Rhodes to determine the interim TNT Champion. |
| 8 | Sammy Guevara | January 26th, 2022 | Dynamite: Beach Break | Cleveland, OH | 2 | 42 | Defeated lineal champion Cody Rhodes in a ladder match to determine the undisputed champion. AEW officially recognizes this as the start of Guevara’s second reign. |
| 9 | Scorpio Sky | March 9th, 2022 | Dynamite | Estero, FL | 1 | 37 | AEW recognizes Sky’s reign as ending on April 16, 2022, when the following event aired on tape delay. |
| 10 | Sammy Guevara | April 15th, 2022 | Battle of the Belts II | Garland, TX | 3 | 12 | AEW recognizes Guevara’s reign as beginning on April 16, 2022, when the event aired on tape delay. |
| 11 | Scorpio Sky | April 27th, 2022 | Dynamite | Philadelphia, PA | 2 | 70 | This was a ladder match. |
| 12 | Wardlow | July 6th, 2022 | Dynamite | Rochester, NY | 1 | 136 | This was a Street Fight. |
| 13 | Samoa Joe | November 19th, 2022 | Full Gear | Newark, NJ | 1 | 46 | This was a three-way match, also involving Powerhouse Hobbs, who Joe submitted. |
| 14 | Darby Allin | January 4th, 2023 | Dynamite | Seattle, WA | 2 | 28 | |
| 15 | Samoa Joe | February 1st, 2023 | Dynamite | Dayton, OH | 2 | 32 | This was a No Holds Barred match. |
| 16 | Wardlow | March 5th, 2023 | Revolution | San Francisco, CA | 2 | 3 | |
| 17 | Powerhouse Hobbs | March 8th, 2023 | Dynamite | Sacramento, CA | 1 | 42 | This was a Falls Count Anywhere match that Hobbs won by technical knockout. |
| 18 | Wardlow | April 19th, 2023 | Dynamite | Pittsburgh, PA | 3 | 59 | |
| 19 | Luchasaurus | June 17th, 2023 | Collision | Chicago, IL | 1 | 98 | |
| 20 | Christian Cage | September 23rd, 2023 | Collision | Grand Rapids, MI | 1 | This was a three-way match, also involving Darby Allin. |
First TNT Champion: Cody Rhodes
- Number of reigns: 3
- 1st Reign timeline: 05.23.2020 – 08.13.2020
- 1st Reign days: 82
- 2nd Reign timeline: 10.07.2020 – 11.07.2020
- 2nd Reign days: 31
- 3rd Reign timeline: 12.22.2021 – 01.26.2022
- 3rd Reign days: 35
Cody Rhodes made history at the 2020 Double or Nothing pay-per-view, overcoming a barrage from Lance Archer to win the inaugural AEW TNT Championship tournament. Arguably, there was no greater option to be the first champion for AEW’s secondary title.
Although he was an AEW Executive Vice President, ‘The American Nightmare’ was befitting of the championship, as he proved throughout his weekly open challenges. It was during these challenges that he assisted the career trajectory of numerous flourishing AEW talents, such as Jungle Boy, Marq Quen, and the debuting Eddie Kingston and Ricky Starks, both of whom were snapped up by AEW following their performances vs. Cody.
Cody both lost and regained the TNT Championship against the late Mr Brodie Lee in the summer of 2020, with his third and final reign with the championship seeing him dethrone then-champion Sammy Guevara on the special Christmas Day edition of Rampage in December 2021. He would lose the championship back to Guevara on the Beach Break special of Dynamite this past January, which also served as Rhodes’ final match in the Tony Khan-helmed promotion before he announced his shock departure.
Though he’s now back under contract with WWE, Cody Rhodes has previously admitted his love and admiration for the AEW TNT Championship. A Q&A session on his Twitter from September 2021 saw the former WWE Intercontinental Champion call it “the best title in the game“, in response to a fan query regarding his next move after facing Malakai Black.
Second TNT Champion: Mr Brodie Lee
- Number of reigns: 1
- Reign timeline: 08.13.2020 – 10.07.2020
- Reign 55 days
When you first think of the AEW TNT Championship, Mr Brodie Lee instantly comes to mind.
‘The Exalted One’ shocked the world when he quickly defeated Cody Rhodes in August 2020 to become the second TNT Champion, doing so in dominating fashion. The former Wyatt Family man completely annihilated ‘The Prince of Pro Wrestling’, and pinned Cody in three minutes and ten seconds.
Despite the success of his short-lived reign, Brodie Lee reportedly wasn’t originally scheduled to be the AEW TNT Champion. The late Dark Order member revealed on the AEW Unrestricted podcast:
“I believe that the original plan was for me to not become TNT Champion. I don’t know much, I’m not privy into the ins and outs, the nuts and bolts of it all, probably because I don’t want to be because if I have a thought in my head, I’ll quickly become married to it and then if something changes, I go insane. I try not to know too much and I kind of just live in the moment. I learned my lesson the hard way over many, many years, so I try to stay level-headed and not get too much information and receive things as they are presented to me.”
Brodie Lee’s reign ended when he was defeated by Cody Rhodes in a brutal Dog Collar match on the 7th October 2020 broadcast of Dynamite. This, sadly, was the final match of Brodie’s incredible career, as he tragically passed away just two months later.
His legacy has lived on throughout All Elite Wrestling, with the then-current version of the TNT Championship being retired and awarded to Lee’s son and Dark Order member, Brodie ‘-1’ Huber.
Fourth TNT Champion: Darby Allin
- Number of reigns: 2
- 1st Reign timeline: 11.07.2020 – 05.12.2021
- 1st Reign days: 186
- 2nd Riegn timeline: 01.04.2023 – 02.01.2023
- 2nd Reign days: 28
Darby Allin‘s victory over Cody Rhodes for the TNT Championship at Full Gear 2020 was a passing of the torch moment. Darby, while an established veteran on the independent circuit, was always perceived as the “nearly man” in All Elite Wrestling. His matches with the likes of Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley put him on the map, but it wasn’t until his TNT Title reign that he burst through the proverbial glass ceiling.
Upon doing so, the daredevil Darby aligned with Sting in December 2020 and feuded with Team Tazz. He defended the title against a variety of opponents particularly members of the Dark Order in an ode to the later Mr Brodie Lee.
He held the title for 186 days, which was the then-longest singular reign in the title’s history, before losing it to Miro on September 29th, 2021.
Two years later on January 4th, 2023, he won the title for the second time defeating Samoa Joe before losing it back to him 23 days later.
Fifth TNT Champion: Miro
- Number of reigns: 1
- Reign timeline: 05.12.2021 – 09.29.2021
- Reign days: 140
‘The Redeemer’ Miro ended the reign of Darby Allin just two weeks before the 2021 Double or Nothing, maintaining his grip on the championship until facing Sammy Guevara that September.
Miro went through a chunk of the AEW roster during his time with the title, obtaining victories over Eddie Kingston, Lance Archer, and Dante Martin over the six months he spent in possession of the TNT Championship.
It was during his reign as TNT Champion that Miro also completely reinvented himself, leaving ‘The Best Man’ schtick behind in favour of becoming ‘God’s Favourite Champion’.
Sixth TNT Champion: Sammy Guevara
- Number of reigns: 3 (plus one interim)
- 1st Reign timeline: 09.29.2021 – 12.22.2021
- 1st reign days: 84
- 2nd Reign timeline: 01.26.2022 – 03.09.2022
- 2nd Reign days: 42
- 3rd Reign timeline: 04.15.2022 – 04.27.2022
- 3rd Reign days: 12
Sammy Guevara and the AEW TNT Championship were inseparable following Guevara first lifting the championship from Miro. With three official reigns and one interim reign to boot, the former Inner Circle man can be classed as a TNT Championship icon.
His series of matches against Cody Rhodes over the championship produced some of AEW’s best in-ring content, specifically their Ladder Match from Dynamite’s 2022 Beach Break episode. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Dave Meltzer awarded this particular outing the coveted five stars, reiterating the fact that this is essentially AEW’s Intercontinental Championship.
Ninth TNT Champion: Scorpio Sky
- Number of reigns: 2
- 1st Reign timeline: 03.09.2022 – 04.15.2022
- 1st Reign days: 37
- 2nd Reign timeline: 04.27.2022 – 07.06.2022
- 2nd Reign days: 70
When Scorpio Sky first won the TNT Championship on the 9th March broadcast of Dynamite, he did so by defeating Sammy Guevera, almost a year after he failed to win it against Darby Allin.
After successfully defending it against Wardlow he dropped back to Guevera at Battle of the Belts II, which ended his reign after just 37 days. However, he regained it 12 days later on the April 27th, 2022, episode of Dynamite by defeating Guevara in a ladder match.
The ‘hot potato’ situation surrounding Sky and Sammy Guevara’s constant title switches drew criticism from fans and has become an unfortunate trait attached to the championship.
Twelfth TNT Champion: Wardlow
- Number of reigns: 3
- 1st Reign timeline:07.06.2022 – 11.19.2022
- 1st Reign days: 139
- 2nd Reign timeline:03. 05.2023 – 03.08.2023
- 2nd reign days: 3
- 3rd Reign timeline:04.19.2023 – 06.17.2023
- 3rd Reign days: 59
The timing of his first title victory was perfect; ‘Mr. Mayhem’ had just defeated MJF and was on the verge of becoming one of the promotion’s breakout stars.
After ending the reign of Scorpio Sky in July of 2022, his popularity among the company’s fanbase was at an all-time high, but unfortunately, his first TNT Championship reigns did little to continue his rise through the ranks and his second reign was no different either.
After defeating Samoa Joe at Revolution 2023 it seemed he was about to get back on track but his reign was cut short as Powerhouse Hobbs defeated him in a Falls Count Anywhere match in March 2023 ending his second reign after just three days.
In a rematch the following month Wardlow defeated Hobbs to win back the title, becoming a record-tying three-time TNT Champion. Following the title win he entered a feud with Christian, which resulted in Wardlow retaining in a ladder match Double Or Nothing 2023.
Fuelled by the loss Christian set Luchasaurus after the title and he defeated Wardlow for it on the premiere episode of Collision.
Thirteenth TNT Champion: Samoa Joe
- Number of reigns: 2
- 1st Reign timeline: 02.01.2023 – 05.05.2023
- 1st Reign days: 32
- 2nd Reign timeline: 11.19.2022 – 01.04.2023
- 2nd Reign days: 46
Samoa Joe is a two-time TNT Champion. He won the title for the first time on November 19th, 2022, at Revolution, defeating Wardlow in a three-way match that also included Powerhouse Hobbs.
Joe held the title for 59 days defending it three times before losing it to Darby Allin on January 4th, 2023, at the special Winter Is Coming edition of the promotion’s flagship show.
Joe regained the title shortly after defeating Allin in a No-Holds-Barred match on the February 1st, 2023, edition of Dynamite. However, his second title run was a brief one as he lost it to Sammy Guevara on March 5, 2023, at Revolution after just 28 days.
Seventeenth TNT Champion: Powerhouse Hobbs
- Number of reigns: 1
- Reign timeline:03.08.2023 – 04.19.2023
- Reign days: 42
Having won the Face of the Revolution Ladder Match Powerhouse Hobbs won the TNT Championship on the March 8th, 2023, episode of Dynamite, defeating Wardlow in a Falls Count Anywhere Match.
He held the title for 41 days before losing it to Wardlow in a rematch on April 19th, 2023, at Dynamite. Again it was a short and uneventful title reign that did little to elevate the status of the championship and the wrestler.
Nineteenth TNT Champion: Luchasaurus
- Number of reigns: 1
- Reign timeline: 06.17.2023 – 09.23.2023
- Reign days: 98
On the debut episode of Collison, Luchasaurus became the 19th TNT Champion in company history by defeating Wardlow in the show’s first-ever match.
His win was assisted by Christian, who has since paraded the title around as if he is the champion although it is the dinosaur who has successfully defended it. It is an interesting angle, which has given the title a boost albeit a small one.
While Luchasaurus remained champion Cage still wore the title like it was his and often referred to himself as the champion. Then during a feud with Darby Allin, Cage put Luchasaurus’ title on the line in a Three-Way/Handicapped match, in which he emerged as the champion this time for real.
Current TNT Champion – Christian Cage
- Number of reigns: 1
- Reign timeline: 09.23.2023 – Current
- Reign days: 1 +
Since turning heel, Christian Cage has been a joy to watch, especially as the delusion illegitimate TNT Champion during Luchasaurus’ reign. As mentioned above, Cage believed himself to be the champion even though it was the dinosaur man who had won and defended it.
After putting the title up for grabs in a Three Way match which was essentially a two-on-one affair against Darby Allin, Cage walked away with the championship and a legitimate title reign.
AEW Dynamite airs every Wednesday Night and AEW Rampage airs every Friday night via AEW Plus on Fite TV.