Cody Rhodes Confirms AEW TNT Title Won’t Undergo A Name Change When AEW Moves To TBS

The AEW TNT Title is here to stay.

On May 19, AEW and Turner announced that AEW content will be moving to TBS in January 2022. With the pending move, many fans wondered if the TNT Championship would be renamed to the TBS Championship in the new year.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reported the TNT Championship would keep its name. Speaking to Connor Casey of Comic Book, Cody Rhodes confirmed the AEW TNT Title will remain as is.

“I don’t want to drop any spoilers, but I mean, I’ll drop a spoiler. I don’t think we’re going to change the title’s name one bit. TNT is the place that the first alternative challenger brand in two decades appeared on. Their excitement, our partners at WarnerMedia, and the TNT title, as I’ve stated, I think it is, if not the most important title in wrestling, the second most important title in wrestling. I don’t see us changing that name, and I think that’s kind of across the board. I don’t think you’ll find anybody in management or Tony himself who wants to change that name. We’ll always roll with the punches and we’ll always pivot, but I’m 99% sure the TNT title stays the TNT title,” he said.

AEW Dynamite and AEW Rampage, which premieres on August 13 on TNT, will both move to TBS in January 2022.

Speaking on the move, Cody said, “Tony [Khan] was able to facilitate the best possible deal for All Elite Wrestling, and that means more money for the content, and then more importantly, the term that Brett [Weitz] at WarnerMedia used is the best term, it truly is an expansion. We’re just expanding our brand on to TBS, that being Rampage, coming over to TBS, Dynamite itself, four specials, a la Clash of the Champions, our Saturday Night’s Main Event. Those were kind of comparable. Having those on TNT, we’re really all over, and just watching the upfronts for WarnerMedia to see our penetration and presentation, made me really proud that we’ve been such a nice success story.

“So for me, I was excited. I’m always kind of the eternal … I’m very reserved in what I think, and so we put it out there on the medium, but it would be remiss if I didn’t think of the fact that TBS has been a part of my life since I was a little kid. Tony Schiavone texted me that morning, and of course he said, “We’re going back to the mothership.” And the mothership is what my father used to call TBS, for good reason, because they took that first chance on WCW and Jim Crockett Promotions. And now they’ll have all of the wrestling and some familiar names, and a very unique bell-to-bell product. So I’m ecstatic. Plus I’m a psycho American Dad fan. Just to share the space with them and perhaps to do a little cross-promotion would be a really fun thing to do.”

AEW has done cross-promotion with other Warner properties in the past including Godzilla vs. Kong and Rick & Morty.

Cody is set to take on Anthony Ogogo this Sunday at AEW Double or Nothing. You can view the current lineup for the show by clicking here.