AEW added yet another men’s title to its lineup on Wednesday, announcing the AEW National Championship, which is supposed to be in the spirit of the NWA National Championship. However, the NWA is still active, as is the NWA National Championship, and current title holder Mike Mondo took issue with Wednesday’s announcement.
“Let me be CLEAR,” the “Beyond The Mat” star wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “There is only ONE NWA & there is only one PRESTIGIOUS National Championship that holds legit lineage & has for decades. So to Tony Khan or anyone else confused… here’s the legit title, with the company it belongs to & the legit National Champion! MY NAME IS MIKE MONDO.”
Mondo has been National Champion since August, when he ended the nearly year-long reign of Mims. Since Billy Corgan’s revival of the NWA in 2017, the title has been held by the likes of Colt Cabana, Chris Adonis (known to WWE fans as Chris Masters), as well as former TNA star James Storm.
AEW will crown the first National Champion at Full Gear on November 22 in the trademark Casino Gauntlet Match. The champion will then defend the title in ROH, NJPW, CMLL, and other promotions, as well as AEW, obviously. The news comes after AEW lost the International and Continental Titles, which were unified into the AEW Unified Championship, currently held by Kazuchika Okada under Continental Title rules. This would seemingly make the belt a replacement for the AEW International Title, last held by Kenny Omega.
