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The AEW World Championship is a professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Unveiled on May 25, 2019, it is the promotion's top championship for male singles competitors, and Chris Jericho was the inaugural champion. The championship is currently vacant. Previous champion CM Punk was stripped of the title after being suspended due to a legitimate backstage physical altercation following the All Out media scrum.

History

On January 1, 2019, the professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) was founded and its inaugural event, Double or Nothing, was scheduled for May 25. The unveiling of the promotion'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 Double or Nothing's main event at a future date to determine the inaugural AEW World Champion. The Casino Battle Royale was won by Adam Page, while Chris Jericho defeated Kenny Omega in the main event, setting up the inaugural championship match. During Double or Nothing, pro wrestling veteran Bret Hart unveiled the AEW World Championship belt.

Shortly after Double or Nothing, the inaugural championship match was scheduled for AEW's event All Out on August 31. At the pay-per-view, Jericho defeated Page in the main event to become the inaugural champion. The following day, it was reported by Tallahassee Police that the physical championship belt was stolen from Jericho's limousine while he was traveling; it was recovered on September 4.

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). 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. 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. At Forbidden Door, Moxley defeated Tanahashi to become the interim AEW World Champion. Punk made his return in early August and Moxley defeated Punk on the August 24 episode of Dynamite to become the undisputed champion.

Belt design

The AEW World Championship belt has five plates on a black leather strap. The large center plate prominently has the 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". Below this banner is a nameplate to display the reigning champion's name. The two inner side plates are tall and skinny, with the AEW logo again at the center. Above this logo is one half of the globe, while below the logo is the other half of the globe. The two outer side plates are similar to the inner ones but slightly smaller. The belt design was inspired by the Mid-South North American Heavyweight Championship, and AEW wanted their design to be significantly similar to that belt. The belt was created by well-known professional wrestling championship belt maker Dave Millican.

Reigns

As of January 5, 2025, there have been seven reigns between five champions and one vacancy. Chris Jericho was the inaugural champion. Jon Moxley and CM Punk are tied for the most reigns at two. Kenny Omega's reign is the longest at 346 days, while Punk's second reign is the shortest at 3 days. Jericho was the oldest champion when he won it at 48 years old, while "Hangman" Adam Page was the youngest champion at 30 years old.

The championship is currently vacant. Previous champion CM Punk was stripped of the title on the September 7, 2022, episode of Dynamite after getting suspended due to a legitimate backstage physical altercation following the All Out pay-per-view media scrum.

Combined reigns

As of January 5, 2025.

References

1. AEW Dynamite: Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley have weigh-in
2. Killam, Mike (May 26, 2019). "Tony Khan On His Wrestling Fandom Fueling AEW, Weight Classes, Women's Wrestling Diversity & More". ProWrestling.com. Retrieved July 29, 2019. Question: Will AEW have weight divisions? Khan: No. I'm not planning on weight divisions. ... I want to have a world championship, and that's going to be the world championship – not the heavyweight .
3. Ghosh, Pratyay (January 2, 2019). "All Elite Wrestling News: AEW officially announced, Cody Rhodes confirms his role". Fox Sports Asia. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
4. Pratt, Emily (January 1, 2019). "The Young Bucks And Cody Officially Announced All Elite Wrestling And Released Some Details". Uproxx. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
5. Fritz, Brian (January 8, 2019). "Shad and Tony Khan comment on launch of All Elite Wrestling". Sportingnews. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
6. All Elite Wrestling (May 22, 2019). Actor & comedian Jack Whitehall reveals Huge AEW World Championship Final Eliminators #AEWDoN. YouTube. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
7. Powell, Jason. "AEW The Buy In pre-show results: Powell's live review of the Casino Battle Royale, Kip Sabian vs. Sammy Guevara". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
8. Powell, Jason. "AEW Double Or Nothing results: Powell's live review of Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho, The Young Bucks vs. Pentagon Jr. and Fenix for the AAA Tag Titles, Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes, Britt Baker vs. Nyla Rose vs. Kylie Rae". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
9. ^ AEW Staff (May 31, 2019). "Hangman Page vs. Chris Jericho For The AEW World Championship Officially Set For All Out". All Elite Wrestling. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
10. Staszewecki, Joseph. "AEW got it right by crowning Chris Jericho champ at All Out". New York Post. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
11. Currier, Joseph (September 3, 2019). "AEW World Champion Chris Jericho reports title belt stolen". f4wonline.com. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
12. Brookhouse, Brent (September 4, 2019). "Chris Jericho's missing AEW world championship belt retrieved by police in Florida". CBS Sports. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
13. "Official AEW announcement on crowing of interim champion". PWInsider. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
14. Currier, Joseph. "AEW World Champion CM Punk to Undergo Surgery After Injury". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
15. McGuire, Colin (June 3, 2022). "6/3 AEW Rampage results: McGuire's review of CM Punk's announcement, 'The Young Bucks' Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson vs. Penta Oscuro and Rey Fenix, Scorpio Sky vs. Dante Martin for the TNT Title, Athena vs. Kiera Hogan". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
16. Guzzo, Gisberto (June 4, 2022). "AEW Announces Multi-Stage Interim World Championship Eliminator Series". Fightful. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
17. "2022.06.12 Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
18. ^ Powell, Jason (June 26, 2022). "AEW-NJPW Forbidden Door results: Powell's live review of Jon Moxley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the Interim AEW World Title, Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada vs. Hangman Page vs. Adam Cole for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title, Thunder Rosa vs. Toni Storm for the AEW Women's Title, Will Ospreay vs. Orange Cassidy for the IWGP U.S. Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
19. ^ Barnett, Jake (August 24, 2022). "8/24 AEW Dynamite results: Barnett's live review of CM Punk vs. Jon Moxley for the unified AEW World Championship, Death Triangle vs. Will Ospreay and Aussie Open in an AEW Trios Title tournament match, Dax Harwood vs. Jay Lethal, Billy Gunn vs. Colten Gunn, Britt Baker vs. KiLynn King, Chris Jericho and Daniel Garcia meeting". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
20. Thompson, Andrew (June 12, 2019). "Cody Rhodes Says AEW World Title Is About Five Pounds Heavier Than The IWGP Heavyweight Title". Fightful. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
21. Woodward, Hamish (November 5, 2021). "Is Chris Jericho the best AEW Champion of all time?". Atletifo Sports. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
22. Powell, Jason (August 31, 2019). "AEW All Out results: Powell's live review of Chris Jericho vs. Hangman Adam Page to become the first AEW Champion, Pentagon Jr. and Fenix vs. The Young Bucks in a ladder match for the AAA Tag Titles, Cody vs. Shawn Spears, Kenny Omega vs. Pac". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
23. Powell, Jason (February 29, 2020). "AEW Revolution results: Powell's live review of Chris Jericho vs. Jon Moxley for the AEW Championship, Kenny Omega and Hangman Page vs. The Young Bucks for the AEW Tag Titles, Cody vs. MJF, Nyla Rose vs. Kris Statlander for the AEW Women's Championship, Pac vs. Orange Cassidy". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
24. Barnett, Jake (December 2, 2020). "12/02 AEW Dynamite results: Barnett's live review of Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship, Dynamite Diamond Battle Royal, Chris Jericho vs. Frankie Kazarian, Darby Allin and Cody Rhodes vs. Powerhouse Hobbs and Ricky Starks, Britt Baker vs. Leyla Hirsch". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
25. Barnett, Jake (November 13, 2021). "AEW Full Gear results: Barnett's live review of Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Page for the AEW World Championship, Bryan Danielson vs. Miro in the eliminator tournament finals, Penta and Rey Fenix vs. FTR for the AEW Tag Titles, CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston, Britt Baker vs. Tay Conti for the AEW Women's Title, Darby Allin vs. MJF". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
26. Powell, Jason (May 29, 2022). "AEW Double Or Nothing results: Powell's live review of Hangman Page vs. CM Punk for the AEW Championship, MJF vs. Wardlow, Thunder Rosa vs. Serena Deeb for the AEW Women's Title, Owen Hart Cup tournament finals, The Hardys vs. The Young Bucks, Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus vs. Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland for the AEW Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
27. Guzzo, Gisberto (June 4, 2022). "AEW Announces Multi-Stage Interim World Championship Eliminator Series". Fightful. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
28. Powell, Jason (September 4, 2022). "AEW All Out results: Powell's live review of Jon Moxley vs. CM Punk for the AEW World Championship, Toni Storm vs. Britt Baker vs. Jamie Hayter vs. Hikaru Shida for the Interim AEW Women's Title, Chris Jericho vs. Bryan Danielson, Ricky Starks vs. Powerhouse Hobbs, "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry vs. Christian Cage, Casino Ladder Match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
29. Barnett, Jake (September 8, 2022). "9/7 AEW Dynamite results: Barnett's live review of Tony Khan addressing the status of the AEW World Championship and AEW Trios Titles, MJF's return promo, Wheeler Yuta vs. Daniel Garcia for the ROH Pure Rules Title, Death Triangle vs. Best Friends, Interim AEW Women's Champ Toni Storm vs. Penelope Ford in an eliminator match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 8, 2022.

External links

• Official AEW World Title History

• All Elite Wrestling championships
• World professional wrestling championships
• 2019 introductions