Moments before the November 5 episode of AEW Dynamite, Tony Khan made an interesting but surprising announcement. The AEW National Championship is set to add another belt to the promotion’s catalog. While it has an interesting wrinkle, there are too many championships within the company, potentially diluting the entire group.
“The National Championship goes back to when Georgia Championship wrestling appeared on TBS and Superstation. It goes back to before I was even born,” Tony Khan said. “Over 39 years since there was a national champion on TBS. It’s a tradition that goes back, and something that I have always wanted to have in AEW. I’ve wanted to bring the National Title back for a long time, and we are going to bring the National Title back.”
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) November 6, 2025
At AEW Full Gear, a Casino Gauntlet match will determine the first champion. This title will travel with the title, defending it in other promotions like NJPW Strong or within the company’s “sister” promotion, Ring of Honor. Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, and Ricochet were the first announced for the match. AEW Full Gear is set for Saturday, November 22.
The debate about AEW and too many championships
A frequent conversation about AEW is whether the promotion has too many championships. With the announcement of the National Championship, Cagematch has updated its AEW information section to reflect its full slate of titles. There are now 11 titles available within the company. This does not include the Ring of Honor titles, which frequently pop up on the show.
This is a debate that is not as easy as one may assume. On one hand, there’s the idea that having so many titles does not help anyone stand out among the pack. If everyone is a champion of some sort, it becomes more difficult to make those title holders seem like a big deal.
This is an issue that AEW has faced in the past. This hasn’t been a challenge for the two main titles, the AEW World and AEW Women’s World Championship. But when factoring in titles like the TNT Championship and Continental Championship, that was not always the case. To solve that problem, AEW has put those belts on more important performers in Kyle Fletcher and Kazuchika Okada, two men who will be in high-profile angles, hopefully elevating the titles along the way.
Championships in professional wrestling are meant to elevate the performer, while also elevating the title. Putting the right title on the right performer and giving them the right booking not only helps both, but potentially whoever holds that title after them as well. Adding in the AEW National Title will raise the eyebrows of some, but its recent creative plans have shown that AEW can successfully book its full slate of titles in a way that matters.