AEW TBS Championship: Who Should Be the Inaugural Champion?

On last night’s episode of AEW Dynamite, a new championship was announced. It had long been expected that, with Dynamite’s move to TBS set for January 5th 2022, a network based championship – similar to the Sammy Guevara held TNT Championship – would be announced. Last night, just that happened; with the added reveal that this new TBS Championship would be based in the women’s division. This is a welcome move and a great opportunity to feature more women in prominent roles on both Dynamite and AEW Rampage.

With the reveal of the TBS Championship, we must ask: who should be the inaugural holder of this new title? We have come up with a few names who we believe could do the title justice. Let’s begin.

Jade Cargill

Jade Cargill has all the potential in the world to become a major player in AEW. She already briefly had that, when she teamed with Shaquille O’Neal to defeat Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet. Since then, however, she has spent plenty of time away from Dynamite and Rampage – presumably to hone her craft and become the complete wrestler she has all the ability, and potential, to become. Presuming that she is ready, she would be a perfect fit for the TBS Championship and could become a champion akin to Miro; that being a dominant, bad*ss heel champion worthy of the championship she holds. An argument against Jade, however, is that – with Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D already being AEW Women’s World Champion – another heel champion within the women’s division might be overkill. Jade is unlikely to turn babyface anytime soon and though Baker could, given her immense popularity, it might be slightly too premature. Therefore, though Jade will absolutely become a champion somewhere down the line, this might be a little too soon.

Hikaru Shida

Hikaru Shida holds the distinction of being the longest reigning champion (of all genders) in AEW history. On last night’s episode of Dynamite, she was cruelly denied the distinction of being the first woman to make it to 50 wins in All Elite Wrestling. Serena Deeb defeated the former AEW Women’s World Champion and beat her down post match. Make no mistake, Shida will have her revenge; she is an AEW mainstay who will not take Deeb’s attack likely. With a TBS Championship Tournament announced, Shida can make it to 50 wins in the tournament and then celebrate a few extra by being crowned TBS Champion. However, a negative to Shida winning the title is that this is a primed opportunity to give someone who hasn’t yet won a championship a chance to win some gold. Therefore, Shida might be a dark horse in the tournament.

Kris Statlander

Kris Statlander is an AEW mainstay who has been around since the beginning, so what better way to reward her than granting her the privilege of being the inaugural TBS Champion? Statlander is someone who keeps getting better. We mentioned recently that she is a star with alien-like potential, one who could become a major player in AEW in the near future. Whereas her gimmick isn’t among the more serious of the roster, it does not take away from the fact she is a serious competitor. She possesses everything you would want in a champion; a good look, a good move-set and a decent connection with the fans. Though we haven’t seen much of her on the microphone, this is an easily fixable attribute, given she is a part of a faction. The only possible downside to Statlander becoming champion is the gimmick, but we don’t necessarily believe it is a deal breaker. Statlander will one day become a champion within AEW, whether she is the inaugural TBS Champion or not.

Thunder Rosa

A safe pick for the TBS Championship might just be this Thunderous Mexican. Thunder Rosa is undoubtedly one of the best wrestlers in the world today. Additionally, since arriving to AEW last year, she has become one of its most popular stars. Make no mistake, the Mexican is championship material. Her epic duel with Britt Baker has helped make both into bona fide stars within professional wrestling. Whereas most who step into the ring with Britt get booed, Rosa is one of the few who the fans stick with. Her connection with the audience, complete with her unquestionable in-ring ability means Thunder Rosa is a good pick. However, an argument against is that Thunder Rosa has long been deemed as the challenger to eventually usurp Britt Baker from the AEW Women’s World Championship throne. Giving her the TBS Championship reduces the possibility of this scenario and, therefore, we might have to rule her out. Her destiny lies elsewhere.

Ruby Soho

Lastly, the safest pick of all: Ruby Soho. Everyone knows the story of Ruby Riott; a terrific performer who never got the chance she deserved to succeed in the WWE. Since dropping the Riott and adopting the Soho, Ruby has become a big name in AEW. Unfortunately, winning the AEW Women’s World Championship so soon was not on the cards – Britt Baker is simply too hot a commodity to remove from the title currently. Additionally, with many picturing Thunder Rosa as the one to unseat Britt – much like Adam Page is the one to unseat Kenny Omega – Ruby Soho had to act as a big time feud for Britt before the Rosa feud. However, there are not many better choices for the role of TBS Champion than Ruby; she is a recognizable name and one who is widely seen as something of an underachiever deserving of a big moment. If AEW wanted to give Ruby the honor of becoming first TBS Champion, we would not argue against.

Conclusion

The TBS Championship is going to become a focal point of AEW in the coming months. With a tournament set to arrive, and an inaugural champion to be crowned in January, many women are going to become involved in the conversation. It is quite possible that the eventual winner is someone not mentioned in this article. However, we can’t contain our excitement. It has long been said that one of the few downsides of AEW has been the booking of its women’s division. Well, with the addition of a fresh, new championship for the division now confirmed, this might just prove to be the announcement needed to silence these critics once and for all. Hopefully, this is the beginning of the AEW women’s division becoming the prominent part of All Elite Wrestling we all know it can be. The TBS Championship comes to AEW in January.

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