It sounds like AEW Dynamite’s move to TBS won’t affect the TNT title

One common question I saw from wrestling fans after yesterday’s big news about AEW Dynamite permanently moving from TNT to TBS was about the fate of the TNT championship. When TNT is no longer the home of Dynamite, the name of the championship needs to be changed, right?

According to Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer, the TNT title will not be affected. Here is his brief discussion about the topic with co-host Bryan Alvarez:

Meltzer: “TNT title is staying, so it will be named the TNT title even on TBS.”

Alvarez: “Well you know, TNT is an abbreviation for Dynamite, which is the name of the program. So you can still call it the TNT title, even though it’s not on the network TNT.”

Meltzer: “Obviously things can change, but I was told, yeah, they’re gonna keep the TNT championship. Look, it’s gonna be defended on TNT on those [supercards] for sure.”

I don’t know about this. Given that we are at least seven months out from Dynamite’s move from TNT to TBS, I’d recommend that AEW rename the TNT title, or find a way to retire that title and debut a new title to replace it. There’s plenty of time to figure out a way to get there.

Meltzer’s reminder that there are four supercards each year on TNT isn’t a good enough hook to keep “TNT” in the name of the championship, considering the title will almost certainly be defended far more frequently on TBS episodes of Dynamite and Rampage.

The point Alvarez makes about “TNT” being synonymous with explosive dynamite is a more convincing argument for keeping the current name of the belt. But still, AEW has made it clear thus far that the person who holds the TNT title is representing the TNT network, so this doesn’t really work all that well either.

When I told my 65 year old mother who loves AEW about this news, I suggested that maybe they will ditch the TNT title and crown a new TBS champion on the first Dynamite episode on that network. She immediately blurted out, “Will Cody be the first one to hold the new title?”

I laughed really hard, because my mom has no idea about the common fan annoyance with Cody overextending his presence on Dynamite. But then I realized that yeah, she’s probably right. Keeping the name of the TNT title unchanged suddenly sounded way more appealing to me.

How do you think AEW should handle the future of the TNT championship given Dynamite’s upcoming move from TNT to TBS?