The legacy of ECW has manifested itself in many ways in the landscape of modern professional wrestling, from in-ring styles to entire promotions and beyond. Whilst plenty of that legacy makes itself known through nuanced avenues, one artifact from the late 1990s persists in the present day as explicitly as it did back in the day; the FTW Championship. Now a frequent presence in AEW, a company that proudly shares its ECW influences, Taz's custom championship brings with it a heritage and meaning straight from the hardcore environment it was born into.

Although the FTW Championship is consistently seen in All Elite Wrestling, it is referred to as not officially recognized by the company. The champion may be announced as such and have a custom black-and-orange chyron, but the FTW Championship exists in a world of its own. Even since its first day, the FTW Championship has been an outlaw title, unable to be contained by any promoter or company. It stands as a manifestation of The Human Suplex Machine's twenty-plus year's path of rage.

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The Creation of the FTW Championship

'FTW' had been a part of Taz's branding for quite some time before it became forged in gold. Standing for 'F*** The World', the three-letter initialism encompassed what Taz was all about. He was a one-man wrecking crew that trusted nobody, liked nobody, and hated everybody. Taz was the meanest monster in all of ECW, routinely suplexing people into oblivion and choking them out, surviving only if he let them. Taz was a major fixture of ECW programming, holding the ECW World Television Championship for 267 days. As one of the promotion's marquee talents, it was only a matter of time before Taz entered the world title picture.

Taz was on a collision course with the ECW World Heavyweight Champion, "The Franchise" Shane Douglas, but a spanner was thrown into the works. Douglas was injured and would be out of action for a number of months. Rather than strip Douglas of the title, Douglas' injury would be worked into his burgeoning feud with Taz. At the time, Douglas was already surrounding himself with bodies to keep his title as part of the Triple Threat with Chris Candido and Bam Bam Bigelow, stacking the deck against his challengers.

On May 14, 1998, Taz unveiled the FTW Championship, arguing that if Douglas would not face him, then he would crown himself the world champion. The first iteration of the belt was a modified version of the company's Television Championship, with the leather strap painted orange and 'FTW' stickers placed over the plates. This would soon be replaced by an all-new belt, changing the FTW Championship into the design seen today in AEW.

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Taz's Path To Being ECW World Champion

Taz vs Shane Douglas ECW Title
Taz and Shane Douglas for the ECW Title at Guilty as Charged 1999

As FTW Champion, Taz's chase for the world title led him to Bam Bam Bigelow, reigniting the hostilities that had raged between them earlier in the year. Bigelow was the man that had ended Taz's reign as World Television Champion earlier in the year, having driven him through the ring to beat him at Living Dangerously. The two faced off again at 1998's edition of Heatwave for the FTW Championship, in a match that created the iconic scene of Taz getting his own back and driving Bigelow through the stage.

Later on in the year, Taz would cunningly use the FTW Championship to lure Douglas into a World Championship match. Terrified at the thought of facing new challenger Sabu, Douglas looked to Taz for help. The deal was that if Taz took out Sabu, Douglas would allow Taz to name his price. Taz kept up his end of the deal in an FTW Championship match, laying Sabu out with Douglas' help. But, in a perplexing move, Taz finished that bout by dragging Sabu on top of himself and taking the pin, losing the FTW Championship to his old rival. Taz soon explained his actions, reasoning that he no longer needed the FTW Championship as Douglas now had to pay the price, which was facing Taz for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. Taz went on to win the belt from Douglas at Guilty as Charged in January 1999, finishing a quest he had begun almost a year prior.

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Taz Unified The FTW And ECW World Championships

Taz Vs Sabu

Though Taz's master plan worked, there was now another matter to attend to — the new FTW Champion, Sabu. Having already secured themselves as rivals in the past, the two now took that bad blood into the world title picture. In a hot feud supplemented by legitimate hatred for one another outside of the ring, the rivalry grabbed the attention of the ECW fanbase. With Sabu taping over all the 'FTW' imagery on the belt and writing his own name over it, the conflict over the belts saw the two clash several times for all the gold. A Falls Count Anywhere match went to a time limit draw, and a rematch at Crossing the Line was ruled a no-contest before they finally faced off on pay-per-view at Living Dangerously in March 1999.

Taz emerged victorious, regaining the championship he had created months ago, and unifying it with the ECW World Championship. Now merged, the FTW Championship was effectively retired. It took over twenty years for the belt to return, doing so under very similar circumstances to its origin. At the 2020 edition of AEW's Fyter Fest, with Jon Moxley unable to defend the AEW World Championship, Taz awarded his client Brian Cage with the very same FTW Championship. Its return brought the title back to professional wrestling's spotlight and to a bigger audience than ever before. The belt has retained the same combative and rebellious spirit that it was conceived with, with Team Taz carrying on the legacy of their namesake and ensuring that the AEW audience understands what an FTW lifestyle looks like.