The inaugural AEW National Champion will be crowned at AEW Full Gear. Along with the title, though, comes the responsibility of defending it around the world, with Columbus, Ohio already being marked as a destination.
On the AEW Full Gear media call, AEW President Tony Khan confirmed that the AEW National Championship will be put on the line at Ring of Honor Final Battle, slated for December 5 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. "I think it's a great opportunity to crown a new champion, but also to create this new tradition and also for AEW to spread our influence, whether it be stars from the outside coming to challenge for our National Championship here or our National Championship touring around America or other places and visiting some other promotions," Khan said.
"One thing I've never done is have an AEW champion show up and defend the belt at Ring of Honor. That is going to happen at Final Battle. The National Champion will be there and defending the championship. That's something I'm excited about because at no point in Ring of Honor in its history, before we owned the promotion or in the time since I took over ROH, has there ever been an AEW champion appearing and defending the title on the show, so I think that's going to be something very exciting."
Inspired by the NWA National Heavyweight Championship prominently featured in the 1980s, the AEW National Championship will meet its first holder after the completion of the Men's Casino Gauntlet at Full Gear on November 22. So far, five competitions are confirmed for the bout Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, Ricochet, Kevin Knight, and "Speedball" Mike Bailey. Due to Khan's intention of showcasing the title across the entire wrestling landscape, other names from AEW, ROH, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling could potentially enter as well.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit AEW with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
