AEW’s Tony Khan has spoken with NWA President Billy Corgan regarding AEW’s new National Championship.
Khan addressed the topic during a Twitter live stream on Friday night. The conversation followed online comments from NWA some wrestlers after AEW announced its new title.
When AEW announced the new championship on November 5, its presentation referenced the history of the National Title on TBS, which has not been on the network in decades. The announcement prompted a reaction from current NWA National Heavyweight Champion Mike Mondo.
Mondo stated on social media on November 6 that there is “only one PRESTIGIOUS National Championship that holds legit lineage.”
Khan said he had a “really nice conversation” with Corgan to clarify AEW’s position and show respect for the NWA’s history. He stated:
“There’s been a lot of talk about the National Title… and there was chatter from even wrestlers from other promotions, people all over. … I ended up having a really nice conversation about it with the president of the NWA, Billy Corgan, because, of course, the NWA National Championship has a great history of its own.”
Khan added that he respects what Corgan is doing and acknowledged the NWA’s historical connection to AEW’s broadcast partner.
“We brought pro wrestling back to TBS but there are a lot of promotions that have had a great history on TBS before AEW, and one of them is the NWA. I think it’s great that Billy’s trying to keep that tradition alive and revive it, so we had a really nice talk about this.”
He concluded:
“So to any of the wrestlers anywhere in the world and particularly some of you in the NWA, you might be happy to hear Billy and I had a very nice talk about this, and I’m sure he would say the same.”
The original NWA National Championship lineage dates to 1980 in Georgia Championship Wrestling, whose programming was broadcast on TBS. The NWA, under Corgan, rebooted the championship in 2018.
The inaugural AEW National Champion will be crowned in a Casino Gauntlet match at the Full Gear pay-per-view on November 22.
