AEW Championship Vacated During Collision Tapings, New Title Match Announced

The Bang Bang Gang are AEW World Trios Champions no longer. At the latest "AEW Collision" tapings from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, interim EVP Christopher Daniels halted an attempt by Jay White, Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn to invoke the "Freebird rule," which would have replaced an injured White with Juice Robinson. White is currently selling the aftermath of a beatdown sustained on the July 6 "AEW Dynamite" at the hands of both Adam Page and an interfering Christian Cage. 

The "Freebird rule," made famous by the Fabulous Freebirds during their NWA days, allows any members of a faction to defend titles it has won, if that faction has more members than the team that originally won them. Instead of approving the substitution, however, Daniels vacated the titles and announced an upcoming match to determine the new champions: Robinson and The Gunns will now face The Patriarchy trio of Cage, Killswitch, and Nick Wayne at a future, yet-to-be-named date. 

This brings an end to the Bang Bang Gang's nearly three-month reign as AEW World Trios Champions. They dethroned Billy Gunn and The Acclaimed on April 21 during the Dynasty Zero Hour pre-show. That match also unified the AEW World Trios Championship with the ROH World Six-Man Championship. The Trios storyline will air as part of the Saturday, July 13 "Collision." It comes amid a flurry of other recent developments in AEW as they build toward All In at Wembley Stadium on August 25. That card continues to take more shape after the winners of the Owen Hart Cup tournament were determined on the July 10 "Dynamite."