Tony Khan Confirms Plans To Unify Titles From Three Different Promotions

Highlights

• AEW announced a new tournament called the Continental Classic, and the winner will become the AEW Continental Champion and also hold titles from ROH and NJPW.
• Eddie Kingston will be defending his ROH World and NJPW Strong World Championships in every match of the tournament.
• The unification of the three titles will create a Triple Crown, with the winner becoming the Ring of Honor World Champion, the New Japan Strong Openweight Champion, and the AEW Continental Champion.

Another big weekend for AEW is in the books following Full Gear. The women's division has two new champions, and even if you didn't see the Texas Deathmatch between Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page, you've almost definitely seen clips and photos on social media demonstrating just how brutal it was. The PPV was also followed by the customary post-show press conference, during which Tony Khan made a pretty big announcement.

One Tournament, Three Titles

The AEW boss had already revealed there will be a tournament called the Continental Classic running through the end of 2023, and that despite his eye injury, Bryan Danielson will be a part of it. On Saturday, Khan not only revealed the winner of the tournament will become the new AEW Continental Champion, but they will also win titles from two other promotions.

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That's because Eddie Kingston will also be in the tournament and revealed he will be defending both of his titles - the ROH World and NJPW Strong World Championships - in every single match. That means whether Kingston makes it to the final or not, both of the titles he currently holds will be on the line, as well as the new Continental Championship, by the time we get to the final match of the tournament.

AEW, ROH, And NJPW

"The winner of the AEW Continental Classic will be the New Japan STRONG Openweight Champion, they’ll be the Ring of Honor World Champion, and they will be the AEW Continental Champion," Khan confirmed during the press conference (H/T to Post Wrestling for the transcription). "We are unifying all three titles. It will be a Triple Crown, and forming a Triple Crown of three titles, it’ll be the Ring of Honor World title, the New Japan Strong Openweight title, and this tournament."

That AEW already has too many titles less than five years into its existence is near the top of common criticisms wrestling fans have of the promotion. Adding another one in the Continental Championship could have made that even worse, but now it's confirmed to be bringing three titles together under one name, that softens the blow a little. The two titles the Continental Championship will absorb aren't AEW titles though, so technically, by the time the tournament comes to an end, the promotion will have one more belt than it did before. Hopefully the novelty of this title will be that they appear in all three promotions, hence why I think Danielson will win, beating Kingston in the final.