Since the TNT Champion has been introduced by AEW, the company has worked hard to make it mean something. From having fantastic wrestlers have reigns as champions to make its early lineage feel important, to putting on tons of matches for the belt in order to allow fans to get excited about it, AEW has done well with this one.RELATED: 10 AEW Wrestlers Who Need A New FinisherThe TNT Championship has been defended on a regular basis by everybody who has held it, both on episodes of television and at major PPV events. This has led to some fantastic encounters that are amongst the very best in AEW history, but at the same time, there are a few that have fallen flat across that time as well.
10 Best: Miro (c) vs. Eddie Kingston (All Out, 2021) - 7.57
AEW put a lot of time and effort into booking this match and it certainly paid off. Within the match, they were able to tell a clear story and because the fans had a reason to invest, it instantly meant more with everything that they did.
Miro had to pull out all of the tricks in his sleeve in order to defeat Eddie Kingston, who was made to look fantastic throughout this match. The two had strong chemistry and went back and forth, with Kingston being the ideal opponent for him as he was able to be just as physical.
9 Worst: Miro (c) vs. Lance Archer (Double Or Nothing, 2021) - 6.09
Miro's time as champion might have created one of the best matches, but it also brought one of the worst when he faced Lance Archer. While they're two wrestlers who have plenty of power to throw at each other, things didn't quite click here.
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AEW had the match end via a referee stoppage in order to protect Archer to some degree. However, the work between them was quite slow-paced and stopped it from really hitting the top level that they were certainly capable of.
8 Best: Darby Allin (c) vs. Brian Cage (Dynamite New Years Smash, 1/7/21)
Darby Allin and Brian Cage put together a fantastic TNT Championship match, and one of the reasons for that was how different their in-ring styles were. Cage was able to bring power and aggression, while Allin was high-flying and used his body well as a weapon throughout the match.
With the issues on the outside from Team Taz, there was plenty of drama in this match that audiences could really jump into and enjoy. The work they put together was fantastic to watch, and even though it wasn't at a top PPV, it certainly felt to that standard.
7 Worst: Miro (c) vs. Fuego Del Sol (Rampage, 9/15/21) - 6.04
This was actually the second time that Fuego Del Sol competed for the TNT Championship against Miro, and this encounter saw him put his brand new car on the line. There was plenty of story involved here which dragged audiences in, but it was clear that this was being done to set up Miro and Sammy Guevara down the line.
That ended up stopping the match from being as iconic as it could have been, and if they'd been given a little longer then they could have pushed this to something more special. But it was really all about Miro dominating and while Fuego got some offense in, it just wasn't enough to make it competitive.
6 Best: Cody (c) vs. Eddie Kingston (Dynamite, 7/16/20) - 8.01
This match really was a true introduction to Eddie Kingston for many fans, and it was clear he went all out to prove himself here. He and Cody told a brilliant story where they really pushed each other in what became a major slogfest.
The fact that they had a no disqualification stipulation tagged onto this certainly helped, and they didn't hold back when it came to exploiting that. It added a lot of intensity to the entire match and helped them create something that few fans would forget in a hurry.
5 Worst: Darby Allin (c) vs. Ten (Dynamite, 4/22/21) - 5.67
Darby Allin and Ten were actually given a good amount of time for this particular match as far as AEW Dynamite bouts go for the TNT Championship. However, that didn't lead to them putting on a classic, as this is one of the lowest-rated matches in the history of the title.
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The lack of storyline and emotional investment in this match didn't help matters, but it just didn't become a classic encounter, even though Darby sold really well throughout the contest in order to make his opponent look great.
4 Best: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Darby Allin (Full Gear, 2020) - 8.04
This was a huge moment for AEW as it was the night Darby Allin was crowned TNT Champion. It's something the company had been working towards and he and Cody Rhodes put on a clinic to make things even greater, with callbacks to previous times they had wrestled.
In the ring, these two men have fantastic chemistry and it led to a great back and forth match that was hard to predict. There were moments when each man could have won the gold and that led to a really exciting and thrilling contest.
3 Worst: Miro (c) vs. Brian Pillman Jr (Dynamite, 6/30/21) - 5.53
While Miro was arguably the most dominant TNT Champion to date, that didn't necessarily always lead to great match quality. That's because he would be in complete control of his matches, using his physicality to slow the pace down and be on top throughout.
That was the case for a lot of his matches, including the one with Brian Pillman Jr. which is why it wasn't one of the best matches in the history of the title. Fans always prefer a closer back and forth, but Pillman Jr never really looked like he was going to get the win here.
2 Best: Brodie Lee (c) vs. Cody (Dynamite, 10/7/20) - 8.58
Out of all the TNT Championship matches in AEW history, it was the dog collar match between Cody and Brodie Lee that has been considered the best by Cagematch.net. This is one of AEW's most iconic matches, with Brodie and Cody really putting on a clinic here.
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The legacy of this match only becomes stronger as it was Brodie's final ever match. The two of them were very physical and violent throughout and having the rare stipulation only helped make this be even more exciting.
1 Worst: Cody (c) vs. Warhorse (Dynamite, 7/29/20) - 5.40
While Cody was involved in the best TNT Championship match, he was also part of the worst. His encounter with Warhorse was not voted highly by people, and it certainly isn't talked about as a classic for the company, or for Cody himself.
At this time, Cody had an open challenge for the title which led to a lot of people getting a shot at the title without much story involved. Warhorse was popular at the time, but inside the ring, he and Cody just didn't work in terms of creating an engaging match.
