When it comes to champions and reigns, AEW has had a pretty decent track record when it comes to how strongly they have treated their wrestlers when they’ve got gold around their waists. Even with great reigns from the likes of Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega, Darby Allin, and more, there have been some champions who have been booked quite weakly.
This isn’t to say that their reigns have been necessarily bad or short, but just that the champions haven’t been booked very strongly. This can be due to non-title losses, a lack of screen time, or a poor selection of challengers.
10 Wardlow
When Wardlow won the TNT Championship, it felt as though he was set to further his breakout as a major babyface star in AEW. However, months of uninspiring title defenses, a lack of quality in his opponents, and absences on weekly TV, all led to a poor title reign.
Wins over the likes of Ari Daivari, Matt Taven, Ryan Nemeth, and Tony Nese did absolutely nothing for him or the prestige of the TNT Title. In his first PPV defense, he dropped the belt to Samoa Joe.
9 MJF
It could be far too soon to say that MJF’s World Title reign has been weak, but it could have been a lot better so far for sure. Firstly, MJF needed to cheat to win the belt and to retain in his singular title defense, and has proceeded to run away from everyone who has come for him too.
This is all in his character, but he hasn’t felt too much like a “World Champion” just yet. Sure, he has appeared on most shows, but he isn’t the focus, and that may come around to damage him as his reign progresses.
8 FTR
FTR’s push to the AEW World Tag Team Titles was far too quick in hindsight. After just two or so months in the company they won the belts from Adam Page & Kenny Omega, but their reign was quite lackluster.
Sure, they defended the belts a few times against TH2, Best Friends, and SCU, but their first real challenge came against the Young Bucks, and that is where they lost the belts. It was a short and weak reign, one which they haven’t had the chance to rectify.
7 Nyla Rose
After a great match with Riho, Nyla Rose won the AEW Women’s World Title, and took her place at the top of the division as a monster heel. Unfortunately though, she wasn’t made to look all that strong over her reign.
Just one successful defense in three months over Kris Statlander, followed by a loss to Hikaru Shida where she lost the title, led to her time as champion being very underwhelming, and far from the monster run that many imagined.
6 “Hangman” Adam Page
It must be said that the quality of Adam Page’s matches during this reign was top draw, and he did everything in his power to make himself look like a champion. Unfortunately though, his booking wasn’t very strong.
Page was never really the focus on weekly TV during his six-month reign as champion, with his feuds being overshadowed by the likes of MJF, CM Punk, Young Bucks, and more. On paper, his reign featured some show-stealers, but his character took a big blow during this period, and it hasn’t yet recovered properly.
5 Scorpio Sky
It was a nice moment when Scorpio Sky won the TNT Championship, but he went on to become a very poor TNT Champion. He needed help to win the title and to defend it, and then dropped it after just a month, straight back to Sammy Guevara.
Sky would manage to reclaim the belt, but over the next three months he defended it just three times. For a “TV” title, this simply was not good enough, and it did some very disastrous damage to the prestige of the championship.
4 Riho
Riho’s initial AEW Women’s World Title win over Nyla Rose was a great moment, but the reign that followed wasn’t overly impressive. A big issue for this was her infrequency on AEW TV. She would sometimes go even a full month or two not being on TV, and also lost the occasional non-title match too.
She would lose in a rematch to Nyla Rose, which made her title win feel a bit like a fluke.
3 Lucha Bros
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The Lucha Bros won the World Tag Team Titles in a match of the year candidate against the Young Bucks, but from that point on, their reign took a downward spiral. They would lose three times in multi-man tag team action, and would also lose on TV to FTR when defending the AAA Tag Team Titles.
There was little variety behind their defenses, with only a small handful during this stint, and often found themselves going missing from Dynamite for several weeks.
2 Sammy Guevara
Sammy Guevara’s first TNT Title reign got off to an okay start, but things just got worse and worse. Infrequent defenses during the Inner Circle’s feuds took the focus away from the belt, and his descent into a forced heel turn took a toll on his reign too.
Playing hot-potato with Scorpio Sky for the gold didn’t do anyone any favors either. All of that mixed together has made Guevara one of the worst TNT Champions ever.
1 Britt Baker
Champions don’t often lose non-title matches in AEW, and that is a great thing in the company. However, when it comes to Britt Baker, her reign as Women’s World Champion was the main exception.
Baker lost six times in non-title matches during her reign, which is far more than any champion in AEW history. Her losses were to build up title matches, and this showcased a lack in creativity for many of her feuds as champion.