NWA has reportedly asked its roster not to criticize AEW's new title, the National Championship.
AEW's introduction of a new title, the National Championship, has not been well-received by some, including a few stars in the NWA. However, NWA has reportedly asked its roster and personnel to dial back their criticism of the new title, according to "Fightful Select." The report noted that the directive came directly from NWA rather than AEW. Fightful Select did not provide a reason for why the Billy Corgan-owned promotion issued the directive.
The NWA roster's disagreement with the National title name could stem from their promotion having a similarly named championship. This was pointed out by NWA National Champion and former WWE star Mike Mondo, who categorically stated that there is only one National Championship with a historic lineage, which is the one he currently holds. He also called himself the "legit National Champion," which he proclaimed after AEW's Tony Khan had announced the name of the new title.
Khan also revealed that he had spoken to NWA owner and musician Billy Corgan about the issue and said that the two had a good conversation. He clarified that he respects the heritage of the NWA National Championship but maintained that the AEW National Championship has its own lineage, noting that the National Championship name has a long history with TBS from the period when the NWA aired on the network.
The introduction of the National Championship also led to Khan being criticized by many for the number of titles currently on AEW programming. Khan, however, argued that the promotion's expanding broadcast time has necessitated more championships.The inaugural AEW National Champion was crowned on this weekend's FullGear pay-per-view, after Ricochet won the Casino Gauntlet match.
