The AEW World Championship is a men's professional wrestlingworld championship created and promoted by the American promotionAll Elite Wrestling (AEW). Unveiled on May 25, 2019, it is the promotion's top championship and is presented as being AEW's most prestigious title. Chris Jericho was the inaugural champion. The current champion is Jon Moxley, who is in his record-setting fourth reign. He won the title by defeating Bryan Danielson at WrestleDream on October 12, 2024.
On January 1, 2019, the American professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) was founded and its inaugural event and pay-per-view (PPV), Double or Nothing, was scheduled for May 25.[1][2][3] The unveiling of the promotion's men's world championship was first teased on AEW's YouTube channel on May 22, where actor and comedian Jack Whitehall humorously attempted to reveal the title belt but struggled to get the championship out of its bag. During that same video, Whitehall revealed that the winner of Double or Nothing's Buy In pre-show battle royal, called the Casino Battle Royale, would face the winner of the PPV's main event at a future date to determine the inaugural AEW World Champion.[4] AEW president Tony Khan confirmed that since the promotion would not have weight divisions, the AEW World Championship was not a "heavyweight championship".[5] However, on occasion, the promotion, as well as AEW wrestlers and commentators, have referred to it as the "world heavyweight championship".[6]
At Double or Nothing, the pre-show Casino Battle Royale was won by "Hangman" Adam Page,[7] while Chris Jericho defeated Kenny Omega in the PPV's main event, setting up the inaugural championship match. During the event, pro-wrestling veteran Bret Hart unveiled the AEW World Championship belt.[8] Shortly after Double or Nothing, the inaugural championship match was scheduled for AEW's next major PPV, All Out, on August 31.[9] At All Out, Jericho defeated Page in the main event to become the inaugural AEW World Champion.[10] The following day, it was reported by Tallahassee Police that the physical championship belt was stolen from Jericho's limousine while he was traveling;[11] it was recovered on September 4.[12]
On the June 3, 2022, episode of Rampage, reigning champion CM Punk, who had won the title just days prior at Double or Nothing, announced that he was injured and required surgery. He initially wanted to relinquish the title; however, AEW president Tony Khan decided that an interim champion would be crowned until Punk's return, after which, Punk would face the interim champion to determine the undisputed champion. To determine the interim champion, AEW set up the AEW Interim World Championship Eliminator Series that would culminate in a match at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door on June 26, a co-promoted event between AEW and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).[13][14] The first two matches took place on the June 8 episode of Dynamite. A Casino Battle Royale opened the show, which Kyle O'Reilly won. O'Reilly then faced the number one ranked singles competitor Jon Moxley in the main event of the episode, which Moxley won.[15] The third match took place on June 12 at NJPW's Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall between Hiroshi Tanahashi and Hirooki Goto, which Tanahashi won; Tanahashi was originally scheduled to face Punk at Forbidden Door for the title before Punk's injury.[16][17] At Forbidden Door, Moxley defeated Tanahashi to become the interim AEW World Champion.[18] Punk made his return in early August and was defeated by Moxley on the August 24 episode of Dynamite in a match to determine the undisputed champion.[19]
During the All Outpost-eventmedia scrum on September 5, CM Punk, who had just won his second AEW World Championship at the event, got into a legitimate physical altercation backstage with AEW executive vice presidents The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson), following berating comments he had made about them and others during the scrum. As a result, AEW president Tony Khan suspended all involved.[20] On the September 7 episode of Dynamite, Khan announced that both the World Championship and Trios Championship, held by The Elite, were vacated. Khan then announced that there would be a tournament to crown a new AEW World Champion. The AEW Grand Slam Tournament of Champions began that same episode and continued across episodes of Dynamite and Rampage until its conclusion at Dynamite: Grand Slam on September 21. Tournament competitors included Bryan Danielson, "Hangman" Adam Page, Sammy Guevara, Darby Allin, Chris Jericho, and Jon Moxley.[21] In the tournament final at Grand Slam, Moxley defeated Danielson to win the championship for a record third time.[22]
"Real World Championship"
Two-time champion CM Punk with the unofficial "Real World Championship"
CM Punk returned to AEW for the debut episode of Collision on June 17, 2023. During his promo, he held a red bag he described as containing "something he never lost".[23] The following month, Punk unveiled the contents of the bag to be the AEW World Championship belt that he had won at the 2022 All Out. He subsequently referred to himself as the "real world's champion" as he was never defeated for the title, and then spray painted a black X on the center plate (the X being a symbol Punk had used throughout his career in reference to his straight edge lifestyle).[24] While the "Real World Championship" was not officially recognized by AEW, Punk defended the title on AEW programming.[25][26][27] However, following a legitimate backstage incident that occurred at All In on August 27, Punk's contract was terminated and the "Real World Championship" was subsequently dropped.[28]
Belt design
The AEW World Championship belt, used from 2021 to 2022.
The standard AEW World Championship belt has five plates on a black leather strap, and the plates are silver and gold. The large center plate prominently has a relief AEW logo at the center, with a diamond outline behind the logo. Above the logo is a banner that reads "WORLD", while below the logo is another banner that reads "CHAMPION". At the end of each of these banners are parts of the globe. Below the lower banner is a nameplate to display the reigning champion's name. Filigree fills in the rest of the plate. The two inner side plates are tall and narrow. Originally, the inner side plates had AEW's logo at the center while above and below this logo were two halves of the globe. The two outer side plates were similar to the inner ones but slightly smaller. The belt design was inspired by the Mid-South North American Heavyweight Championship belt, and AEW wanted their design to be significantly similar to that belt. It was created by well-known professional wrestling championship belt maker Dave Millican.[29]
After Samoa Joe won the championship at Worlds End on December 30, 2023, he ditched MJF's custom belt and brought back the standard championship belt at Dynamite: Homecoming on January 10, 2024, but with a slight change to the inner side plates, which were updated with a removable center section that can be customized with the reigning champion's logo (similar to WWE's championship belts). The default side plates consist of globes and AEW's logo sits above and below the removable section.[30] The other plates remain unchanged.
Custom designs
The custom "Big Burberry Belt" used by MJF during his reign from November 2022 to December 2023.
On the November 30, 2022, episode of Dynamite, reigning champion MJF, who had won the title at Full Gear on November 19, discarded the standard AEW World Championship belt, calling it trash, and unveiled his own custom version, which he dubbed the "Big Burberry Belt", or Triple-B for short. It featured the exact same design as the standard belt; however, the leather strap was brown and fashioned in Burberry's trademark check pattern to match MJF's signature Burberry scarf.[31][32]
On December 29, 2023, after the Clemson Tigers football team of Clemson University won the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, AEW president Tony Khan presented the team's head coach, Dabo Swinney, with a custom AEW World Championship belt. It features the same design as the standard belt, but the inner side plates features the Tigers logo at the center with an inscription of the event, date, and location above and below the team's logo.[33]
Record-setting four-time and current champion Jon Moxley
As of November 26, 2024, there have been 13 reigns between nine champions and one vacancy, as well as one interim champion. Chris Jericho was the inaugural champion. Jon Moxley has the most reigns at four and also served as the interim champion in mid-2022 while reigning lineal champion CM Punk was out with an injury (this is not counted as one of Moxley's four reigns). MJF's singular reign is the longest at 406 days, while Punk's second reign is the shortest at 3 days. Jericho is the oldest champion when he won it at 48 years old, while MJF is the youngest, winning it at 26 years old.
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