AEW Battle of the Belts is an American series of
professional wrestlingtelevision 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.
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.
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.[8] 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.[9]
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.[13] 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.[14]
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.[15] 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.[16] 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.[17]
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.[19]
Battle of the Belts II was taped on April 15, 2022, at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas.[10] It aired on tape delay the next day on Saturday, April 16 at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.[11] 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.[29]
Battle of the Belts III was taped on August 5, 2022, at the
Van Andel Arena in
Grand Rapids, Michigan.[20] It aired on tape delay the next day on Saturday, August 6 at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.[31][32] 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.[33]
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.[13][35][36] 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.[21]
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.[37] 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 Barredtag team match to retain the
AEW World Tag Team Championship.[38]
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.[22] 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).[40]
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.[17] 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.[41]
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.[23] 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.[18]
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.[24] 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.[46]
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.[25] 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.[50]
AEW International Championship Eliminator match[52] Since Romero lost, he cannot challenge Strong for the title for as long as Strong is champion. Had Romero won, he would have received a future match for the title.