FTW Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
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Details | |||||||||||||||||||
Promotion | Extreme Championship Wrestling (1998–1999) All Elite Wrestling (2020–present) | ||||||||||||||||||
Date established | May 14, 1998 | ||||||||||||||||||
Current champion(s) | Chris Jericho | ||||||||||||||||||
Date won | April 21, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||
Other name(s) | |||||||||||||||||||
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The FTW ("Fuck the World") Championship is a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship currently utilized in the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It is presented as an "outlaw" or "renegade" title that is unsanctioned by officials in-storyline. The current champion is Chris Jericho, who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Hook in an FTW Rules match at Dynasty in St. Louis, Missouri on April 21, 2024.
The title was originally created by its inaugural holder Taz in the former Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion in 1998, and it was abandoned in 1999 after being unified with the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. It remained inactive for 21 years until being re-established by Taz in AEW in 2020. In both ECW and AEW, the FTW Championship was introduced under similar circumstances: each company's respective world champions were unable to defend their respective titles due to injury/illness; in ECW, it was against Taz himself, while in AEW, it was against Taz's client Brian Cage.
"And, hey, everybody knows that there's no way a fuck from Pittsburgh can beat up a man from Brooklyn. So what I got right here, I am the world champion, and I have the proof. You can call it the Brooklyn Title or the Fuck The World Belt!"
— Taz unveiling the FTW Heavyweight Championship at It Ain't Seinfeld
The FTW World Heavyweight Championship was designed, created, and conceived by Taz, who also owns the rights to the design of the title. [1] The title was used to compensate for storylines that had to be dropped due to injuries. ECW World Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas had a serious sinus infection and an elbow injury. Taz and Al Snow also missed their matches at Wrestlepalooza 1998 due to health problems. [2] ECW Owner Paul Heyman said the title suited Taz's "bad-ass, no-nonsense" attitude." [2]
Taz announced the creation of the FTW Heavyweight Championship (also referred to as the Brooklyn World Championship) on May 14, 1998, at It Ain't Seinfeld. In the storyline, he was frustrated by his inability to challenge for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship due to Champion Shane Douglas' injury and refusal to face him. Taz created and defended his own world title, billing himself as the "real" World Champion. He stated that fans appreciated the message conveyed by the belt, which represented contempt for bosses and society, and said that he believed it was more appreciated than the company's top title. [3] The belt was billed as "unrecognized" by ECW. [3] [4]
Taz lost the title only once, in a singles match against Sabu. This was an intentional loss, when he pulled an unconscious Sabu over himself on December 19, 1998 (he was confident that he would defeat Shane Douglas in an upcoming title bout, and thus no longer needed the FTW Heavyweight Championship). [5] Taz regained the title at Living Dangerously on March 21, 1999, where he unified the FTW Heavyweight Championship with the ECW World Heavyweight Championship (which he then held) by defeating Sabu in a title versus title match. [6] [7] Taz then began using only the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, being the sole World Heavyweight Championship in the promotion, in turn retiring the FTW Heavyweight Championship.
Taz began appearing in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in late 2019 and officially signed with the company in January 2020 as a commentator. He then began managing Brian Cage. On Night 2 of Fyter Fest on July 2 that year (aired on July 8), Cage was scheduled to face Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship; however, the match was postponed as Moxley had to self-quarantine after his wife Renee Paquette had tested positive for COVID-19. In turn, Taz reinstated the FTW Championship that night and awarded it to Cage, mirroring the circumstances behind the title's original inception in ECW. Just like in ECW, the FTW Championship is not an officially sanctioned title in AEW. [8]
When the title was first created, the FTW belt was a custom ECW Television Championship belt with a leather strap painted orange, stickers partially covering the belt, [3] and a "TAZ" logo at the top. "FTW" stickers were strategically placed over the word "Television" in the middle of the belt as well as the United States and United Kingdom flags on the side plates. A few months later, in an attempt to persuade Taz to team with Sabu and Rob Van Dam against Shane Douglas and The Triple Threat, Bill Alfonso presented Taz with an original FTW belt featuring a black leather strap and orange-accented bronze plates, with a "TAZ" logo engraved in the belt's centerplate. This second design would also be used for the belt after its reintroduction in AEW. Taz stated that the concept and attitude have been replicated by other companies. [3]
According to Taz on The Rise and Fall of ECW DVD documentary, when Sabu won the title, he was legitimately upset backstage over Taz's name being permanently displayed on the belt. From then on, whenever Sabu had the belt with him, he would cover the Taz logo with athletic tape and write "SABU" on it in magic marker. [9]
As of April23, 2024, there have been nine reigns between seven champions and one vacancy. Taz was the inaugural champion and is tied with his son Hook for the most reigns at two. Ricky Starks has the longest reign at 378 days while Taz's second reign was the shortest at less than a day as he abandoned the title upon winning the ECW World Heavyweight Championship in a championship unification match. Chris Jericho is the oldest champion at 53 years old while Hook is the youngest at 23.
Chris Jericho is the current champion in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Hook in an FTW Rules match at Dynasty in St. Louis, Missouri on April 21, 2024.
Name | Years |
---|---|
FTW Heavyweight Championship | May 14, 1998 – March 21, 1999 |
FTW Championship | July 2, 2020 – present |
No. | Overall reign number |
---|---|
Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
Days | Number of days held |
<1 | Reign lasted less than a day |
+ | Current reign is changing daily |
As of April23, 2024.
† | Indicates the current champion |
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Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns | Combined days |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Hook | 2 | 597 |
2 | Ricky Starks | 1 | 378 |
3 | Brian Cage | 1 | 377 |
4 | Taz | 2 | 219 |
5 | Sabu | 1 | 92 |
6 | Jack Perry | 1 | 39 |
7 | Chris Jericho † | 1 | 2+ |
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