AEW: 5 possible opponents who could challenge Cody for his TNT Title

Cody is your first ever TNT Champion and he gave us a mission statement on Wednesday: defend the championship every week on AEW Dynamite. Presuming he successfully retains over his first opponent next week, here are five more matches I’d like to see for Cody’s TNT Championship.

One thing Tony Khan, Cody, and AEW have been adamant that they do not want the TNT Championship to be viewed as is a secondary or mid-card title just yet. Part of that is they’re not sure what to make of the TNT Championship yet, while another part of it is probably not wanting to define any wrestlers down or permanently as mid-carders.

To aid in the appearance of the championship as level with Jon Moxley’s AEW World Championship. Cody is listed next to Moxley atop the ranking as champions. There is one list for both titles rather than a separate one for the TNT Championship. Again, this would define both the TNT Champion/Championship and its contenders as lower than that of the AEW World Champion/Championship.

(Because of the amorphous nature of the rankings with the TNT Championship added to it and our limited understanding thus far of what this entails, I will forgo the rankings for the most part when deciding who to place on this list.)

Further, while Cody did say they weren’t sure if this would be the workhorse title or not (similar to the historical lineage of the Intercontinental Championship), his stance to defend the title every week seems to squarely place the TNT Championship into that category. To me, that doesn’t necessarily define it down if it truly is defended every week.

After all, many of us who grew up in the 80s and 90s viewed the Intercontinental Championship as most prestigious thanks to the likes of Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper, Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon, Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Steve Austin, The Rock, and Triple H.

We know Cody’s first defense will be next Wednesday against Jungle Boy, who won a #1 contender battle royal by last eliminating Orange Cassidy. Assuming Cody wins, who else could he face for his TNT Championship?

Let’s take a look at five possible matches I’d like to see, beginning with a fairly obvious rival…but probably not the one you’re thinking about.

Please note I’m not saying these should be Cody’s next five opponents, but just matches I’d like to see at some point for Cody as TNT Championship.