AEW Battle of the Belts

AEW Battle of the Belts is an American series of professional wrestling television specials produced by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The one-hour specials are broadcast on TNT in the United States and air quarterly throughout the year. The series currently airs on select Saturday nights at 10 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) immediately after AEW's regular Saturday program, Collision; the series originally aired on select Saturday nights at 8 p.m. ET, but was moved to Fridays at 11 p.m. ET beginning with the fourth episode before its move back to Saturdays with the seventh episode. Battle of the Belts premiered with a live episode on January 8, 2022. The 10th and most recent special aired live on April 13, 2024.

The theme of the show is that all matches are contested for professional wrestling championships. Thus far, seven of AEW's nine championships have been defended on the specials, as well as four championships from AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH). These include the AEW Women's World Championship, the AEW TNT Championship, the AEW TBS Championship, the AEW International Championship, the AEW World Tag Team Championship, the AEW World Trios Championship, the FTW Championship, the ROH World Championship, the ROH World Television Championship, the ROH World Tag Team Championship, and the ROH Women's World Championship.

As of April 2024, only two title changes have occurred during Battle of the Belts episodes, both of which involved Sammy Guevara. The first was on the inaugural episode which saw him defeat Dustin Rhodes to determine the interim TNT Champion and the other was on the second episode in which he defeated Scorpio Sky to win his record-tying third TNT Championship. Additionally, only one match was not contested for a championship. Instead, it was a Championship Eliminator match on the 10th episode in which reigning International Champion Roderick Strong faced Rocky Romero. Strong defeated Romero, thus Romero cannot challenge Strong for as long as Strong is champion; had Romero won, then he would have received a future title match.

History
In May 2021, the American professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) renegotiated its broadcasting deal with WarnerMedia (now Warner Bros. Discovery), which saw AEW's flagship television program, Wednesday Night Dynamite, move from TNT to TBS in January 2022, while its other weekly program at the time, Friday Night Rampage, remained on TNT. Also as part of the deal, AEW agreed to produce four quarterly television specials on TNT that would take place on Saturdays. Former AEW executive and wrestler Cody Rhodes said that these specials would be similar to Jim Crockett Promotions/World Championship Wrestling's Clash of the Champions and WWE's Saturday Night's Main Event shows, calling them super events. Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer reported that the quarterly specials would be one-hour shows, but said they were originally planned to be longer, and also that they would feature pay-per-view caliber cards.

On November 24, 2021, the television special series was announced to be titled Battle of the Belts with the inaugural event scheduled to be held live at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on January 8, 2022, at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. The tagline was confirmed as "Saturday Fight Night". The name "Battle of the Belts" came from a National Wrestling Alliance event held from 1985 to 1987 by the promotion's Florida territory that was operated by Eddie Graham.

AEW President Tony Khan confirmed that due to the show's one-hour length, not all of AEW's championships would be defended on the specials, but their goal was to put on great championship matches. On the day of the inaugural event, Khan revealed that matches for the January 11 episode of their YouTube show, Dark, were scheduled to be taped before the Battle of the Belts I live broadcast, with all other AEW champions participating in these Dark matches.

On February 15, 2022, AEW announced that Battle of the Belts II would be taped on April 15 at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas, which aired on tape delay the next day on April 16. After Tony Khan's purchase of Ring of Honor (ROH) in March 2022, the ROH World Championship was scheduled to be defended at Battle of the Belts II, the first non-AEW championship defended on the series.

On August 4, 2022, Battle of the Belts IV was announced to be held on Friday, October 7 at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, D.C. As Battle of the Belts was established as a Saturday night television special, it was expected that Battle of the Belts IV would air on tape delay the next day on October 8. However, due to WWE's Extreme Rules pay-per-view airing that night, Battle of the Belts IV was instead scheduled to air live on October 7 at 11 p.m. ET right after the live broadcast of Rampage to avoid counter programming against WWE. Due to its Friday scheduling, its tagline was changed to "Friday Fight Night". This was also the first Battle of the Belts episode to not include matches for either the AEW Women's World Championship or AEW TNT Championship, but it did include an ROH World Tag Team Championship match.

On November 2, 2022, it was announced that the Battle of the Belts series would continue with Battle of the Belts V scheduled to air live on Friday, January 6, 2023, at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. Despite the addition of Saturday Night Collision to AEW's weekly lineup, which premiered on June 17, 2023, Khan confirmed that Battle of the Belts would continue, although its future on TNT was uncertain. On July 4, 2023, PWInsider reported that the show would remain on TNT with Battle of the Belts VII scheduled to be held on July 15 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada at 10 p.m ET after the live broadcast of Collision on TNT. This in turn returned the special to Saturday nights and also marked the first Battle of the Belts to be held outside of the United States.

Battle of the Belts VIII, which took place live on Saturday, October 21, 2023, at 10 p.m. ET on TNT at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee, was the first Battle of the Belts to have four matches on the card; all previous episodes only had three. It would also be the first episode to include defenses of the AEW World Trios Championship and the ROH World Television Championship.

Battle of the Belts I
Battle of the Belts I took place on Saturday, January 8, 2022, at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. The event aired live at 8 p.m. ET on TNT. In the main event, Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. defeated Riho to retain the AEW Women's World Championship. On the undercard, Ricky Starks defeated Matt Sydal to retain the FTW Championship and in the opening bout, Sammy Guevara defeated Dustin Rhodes to become the interim AEW TNT Champion; Guevara was originally scheduled to face lineal champion Cody Rhodes for the title, however, Cody was pulled due to COVID-19-related issues.

Battle of the Belts II
Battle of the Belts II was taped on April 15, 2022, at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas. It aired on tape delay the next day on Saturday, April 16 at 8 p.m. ET on TNT. In the main event, Thunder Rosa retained the AEW Women's World Championship against Nyla Rose. On the undercard, Jonathan Gresham defeated Dalton Castle to retain the ROH World Championship and in the opening bout, Sammy Guevara defeated Scorpio Sky to win the AEW TNT Championship for a record-tying third time.

Battle of the Belts III
Battle of the Belts III was taped on August 5, 2022, at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It aired on tape delay the next day on Saturday, August 6 at 8 p.m. ET on TNT. In the main event, Claudio Castagnoli retained the ROH World Championship against Konosuke Takeshita. On the undercard, Thunder Rosa defeated Jamie Hayter to retain the AEW Women's World Championship and in the opening bout, Wardlow defeated Jay Lethal to retain the AEW TNT Championship.

Battle of the Belts IV
Battle of the Belts IV took place on Friday, October 7, 2022, at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, D.C. As Battle of the Belts was established as a Saturday night television special, it was expected that Battle of the Belts IV would air on tape delay the next day on October 8; however, to avoid counter programming against WWE's Extreme Rules pay-per-view that night, Battle of the Belts IV was scheduled to air live on October 7 at 11 p.m. ET on TNT immediately after the live broadcast of AEW's regular Friday program, Rampage. In the main event, FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) defeated Gates of Agony (Toa Liona and Kaun) to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championship. On the undercard, Jade Cargill defeated Willow Nightingale to retain the AEW TBS Championship, and in the opening bout, Pac defeated Trent Beretta to retain the AEW All-Atlantic Championship.

Battle of the Belts V
Battle of the Belts V took place on Friday, January 6, 2023, at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. The show aired live at 11 p.m. ET on TNT immediately following the live broadcast of AEW's regular Friday program, Rampage. In the main event, Orange Cassidy defeated Kip Sabian to retain the AEW All-Atlantic Championship. On the undercard, Jade Cargill defeated Skye Blue to retain the AEW TBS Championship and in the opening bout, The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster) defeated Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal in a No Holds Barred tag team match to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championship.

Battle of the Belts VI
Battle of the Belts VI took place on Friday, April 7, 2023, at the Ryan Center in Kingston, Rhode Island. The show aired live at 11 p.m. ET on TNT immediately following the live broadcast of AEW's regular Friday program, Rampage. In the main event, The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fénix) defeated Q. T. Marshall and Powerhouse Hobbs to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championship. On the undercard, Jade Cargill defeated Billie Starkz to retain the AEW TBS Championship, and in the opening bout, Orange Cassidy defeated Dralístico to retain the AEW International Championship (formerly All-Atlantic Championship).

Battle of the Belts VII
Battle of the Belts VII took place on Saturday, July 15, 2023, at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, marking the first Battle of the Belts to be held outside of the United States. This episode returned the special to Saturday nights and aired live at 10 p.m. ET on TNT immediately after the live broadcast of AEW's regular Saturday program, Collision. In the main event, Luchasaurus defeated Shawn Spears to retain the AEW TNT Championship. On the undercard, Toni Storm defeated Taya Valkyrie to retain the AEW Women's World Championship, and in the opening bout, Orange Cassidy defeated Lance Archer to retain the AEW International Championship. Due to inclement weather that caused satellite issues in Calgary, the conclusion of the Women's World Championship match was not broadcast. After the signal was restored, the announcers informed the television audience of the result, and showed a replay of the finish.

Battle of the Belts VIII
Battle of the Belts VIII took place on Saturday, October 21, 2023, at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee. The show aired live at 10 p.m. ET on TNT immediately after the live broadcast of AEW's regular Saturday program, Collision. While all past Battle of the Belts episodes featured three matches per card, Battle of the Belts VIII had four matches. In the main event, The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster) and Billy Gunn defeated Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, and Daniel Garcia to retain the AEW World Trios Championship. On the undercard, Kris Statlander defeated Willow Nightingale to retain the AEW TBS Championship, Samoa Joe defeated Tony Nese to retain the ROH World Television Championship, and in the opening bout, Orange Cassidy defeated John Silver to retain the AEW International Championship.

Battle of the Belts IX
Battle of the Belts IX took place on Saturday, January 13, 2024, at the Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. The show aired live at 10 p.m. ET on TNT immediately after the live broadcast of AEW's regular Saturday program, Collision. In the main event, Orange Cassidy defeated Preston Vance to retain the AEW International Championship. On the undercard, Julia Hart defeated Anna Jay to retain the AEW TBS Championship, and in the opening bout, Ricky Starks and Big Bill defeated Le Sex Gods (Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara) in a Street Fight to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championship.

Battle of the Belts X
Battle of the Belts X took place on Saturday, April 13, 2024, at the Truist Arena in Highland Heights, Kentucky. The show aired live at 10 p.m. ET on TNT immediately after the live broadcast of AEW's regular Saturday program, Collision. In the main event, Athena defeated Red Velvet to retain the ROH Women's World Championship. On the undercard, Roderick Strong defeated Rocky Romero in an AEW International Championship Eliminator match, thus Romero cannot challenge Strong for the title for as long as Strong is champion, while in the opening bout, Hook defeated Shane Taylor in an FTW Rules match to retain the FTW Championship.