AEW: Another Battle of the Belts with no title changes

AEW Battle of the Belts featured big matches, but once against, zero title changes.

Friday night had two hours of live wrestling from AEW. Rampage was on at its normal time, followed by Battle of the Belts 6. Between the two shows, there were four title matches.

Battle of the Belts shows have been predictable for a while now. There has been one title change across six shows. Sammy Guevara defeated Scorpio Sky for the TNT Championship way back at BOTB II. On the first show, Guevara beat Dustin Rhodes to win the vacant TNT Championship. Everyone looking at the cards knows that title changes aren’t going to happen. The winners are obvious. While they may be solid shows with good matches, they aren’t must-see TV.

Between the two hours, we did get some storyline movement.

Rampage opened with Ethan Page getting his rematch against HOOK for the FTW Championship. He lost on Dynamite when Matt Hardy turned on him and hit him with said title. “All Ego” was no match for the Redrum.

The sixth iteration of BOTB kicked off with Orange Cassidy defending the International Championship against Dralisctico.  On his way down to the ring, Julia Hart was leaving from her main event match on Rampage. She glared at the champion until she left.

Following his match, a video of Malakai Black with Hart by his side played. Black said he was glad Cassidy got his win back because losing to House of Black was “eating him alive.” He said they weren’t done with him just yet and Buddy Murphy emerged from the shadows. Murphy said in a recent interview that he wanted to face Cassidy for the title.

Jade Cargill beat 18-year-old wrestling prodigy, Billie Starkz, in her national television debut. Cargill has now won 55 consecutive wins. Earlier on Rampage, Cargill and Taya Valkyrie exchanged heated words in a sit-down interview. After Cargill won, the two got physical. “La Wera Loca” tried to put her in the Road to Valhalla, but Cargill rolled out of the ring.

Last Friday at Supercard of Honor, the Lucha Bros. won the inaugural “Reach for the Sky” Ladder Match to become the new ROH tag team champions. In their first title defense, they faced TNT Champion, Powerhouse Hobbs, and QT Marshall.

While it’s really important to utilize television to move stories forward, the Battle of the Belts portion needs a shakeup. There should be at least one title change, even if it’s every other event. It’s got to mean something, otherwise, it’s just another show. There are no stakes when everyone knows nothing is changing in the title picture.