"Trying to act like this a real title" - WWE veteran criticizes Tony Khan for the usage of popular championship in AEW
Former wrestling manager Jim Cornette has expressed his disappointment with AEW President Tony Khan over the latter's usage of the FTW Championship.
The aforementioned title was previously used in ECW in 1998 and was created by Taz as an alternative to the company's world title. Since unifying the title with the ECW World Heavyweight Championship in 1999, the belt was inactive until the former WWE star got it back into the spotlight in AEW two years back.
Current FTW Champion Ricky Starks recently defeated Cole Karter in a singles bout for the title on the July 20th episode of Dynamite. While reviewing the match on the Jim Cornette Experience podcast, Cornette expressed his frustrations over the announcers trying to establish the championship as a legitimate belt.
"And the announcers as this thing started were trying to talk. I know Taz was there, so he should be, but the announcers were legitimately, including JR, were trying to talk the FTW title up as a real belt. Which is the polar opposite of what it actually is. They made their own belt. That's a classic heel move. I seem to remember that Taz did that because somebody else held the ECW title and there had been some dispute over a match and Taz declared himself the f**k, the world champion." (0:15 onwards)
He also highlighted that Tony Khan needs to use the belt for business:
"Tony Khan being a mark for 90s wrestling, so let's bring the FTW title back. Use it for business. The way he use it it's not real. The heel is out there crowing that he is the FTW Champion because whatever issue he had with the company, they won't give him a title match or his title match ended in confusion because the referee made the wrong mistake (...) Then he defends it on his own because the company does not sanction it blah blah blah." (1:17 onwards)
Jim Cornette feels AEW has got too many titles in the promotion
Lucha titular en camino...
Por el título de FTW...
Cole Karter vs "ABSOLUTE" RICKY STARKS
#AEW
#AEWDynamite
#FyterFest
#ColeKarter
#RickyStarks instagr.am/p/CgQVlikNPbB/ https://t.co/yBiINuVT6Y
The 60-year-old did not hold back while discussing the FTW Championship. He further mentioned that the company already has too many singles belts and should not make the FTW Championship an actual title.
"That's where the heat comes in. Now they are trying to act like this is a real title. Which is the last thing they need to do. Because they got the AEW title, TBS title, TNT title, Ring of Honor title, FTW title, they got the All Asian Pacific f**king dead sea title. I haven't even gone into tags yet." (2:00 onwards)
The rights to the FTW Championship, including those of design, are owned by Taz. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for the aforementioned title.
Do you think the title should be treated as a real one in AEW? Sound off in the comments section below.
If you use any quotes from this article, please give H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.