WINC Watchlist: Every AEW TBS Championship Title Change, Ranked

The AEW TBS Championship has been in existence for just over four years at the time of writing, and the title already has a very interesting history. Introduced as the midcard title for the AEW women's division to give the All Elite ladies something to fight over, there has already been two reigns that have lasted longer than 500 days, a total of 78 matches where the title has been on the line, and the current champion Willow Nightingale is the first woman in history to hold the blue and gold strap on more than one occasion.

Of the 78 matches where the AEW TBS Championship has been on the line, the title has changed hands a total of five times. For a belt that is effectively a midcard title that has only been around for four years, only having five title changes is very rare as midcard titles are usually passed around from wrestler to wrestler in order to push certain performers further up the card and eventually into the main event. So what better way to look back on those five title changes than by putting them into a neat little watchlist for you to watch, and ranking them in order from the worst match to the best?

For context, we are not including the match that determined the inaugural AEW TBS Champion, that being Jade Cargill's win over Ruby Soho on the January 5, 2022 episode of "AEW Dynamite." This is due to the title not technically changing hands as there was no champion to take the title from to begin with, but it definitely deserves a mention for being historically significant in the story of AEW as a company. With that out of the way, this is every AEW TBS Championship change ranked from worst to best.

For as much of a feel good moment as this was at the time, Willow Nightingale's triumphant victory over Julia Hart from AEW Dynasty 2024 lands itself at the bottom of this watchlist.

The main reason for this is very simple. Hart had spent nearly five months as champion, but spent the second half of her reign notably absent from the ring as she was suffering from a shoulder injury. The injury would eventually keep Hart out of action for the remainder of 2024, and while she did return before the year was out, attacking Jamie Hayter on an episode of "AEW Collision" in the same building this pay-per-view took place in, "The Princess of Darkness" wouldn't wrestle again until New Year's Day of 2025.

It's because of Hart's injury and her willingness to go ahead with the match despite her condition that keeps this match at the bottom of the list. It isn't necessarily bad, but there is only so much that you can do when one person physically can't wrestle for longer than six minutes. The match essentially becomes a glorified squash match where Nightingale gets an easy victory, and while it was great to see Nightingale win her first title in AEW, the fact that someone who is so beloved by the audience had their big moment feel like it came out of nowhere was a real let down. 

Nightingale was almost overshadowed immediately afterwards as Mercedes Mone, who had just recently debuted for AEW a month earlier, came out after the match to steal the spotlight away from the new champion in a moment that should have really been reserved for Nightingale. Obviously, this was a heel trying to generate heat for taking a special moment away from a babyface, but at least let the moment breathe just a little bit. 

It's basically the AEW TBS Championship equivalent of the match between Toni Storm and Jamie Hayter for the AEW Women's World Championship at AEW Double or Nothing 2023 where the company needed to get the belt off of Hayter due to injuries, but decided to go ahead with the match anyway, resulting in a lengthy squash. Hopefully Hart and Nightingale will be able to have a full length bout the next time they go one-on-one.

Speaking of AEW Double or Nothing 2023, it was a night of glorified squash matches resulting in title changes for the AEW women's division as not only did Jamie Hayter lose her AEW Women's World Championship, but Jade Cargill lost her AEW TBS Championship as well.

Cargill's run as the AEW TBS Champion was historic for so many reasons. Not only was she the first champion, but she set the bar so high with a reign that lasted 508 days and had a total of 25 title defenses. The reign also started in the middle of Cargill's unbeaten run in AEW, and at Double or Nothing 2023, she took her record to a staggering 60-0 by defending the belt against Taya Valkyrie. However, Cargill's manager, "Smart" Mark Sterling, got a little too smart for his own good and issued an open challenge to anyone in AEW to come and face Cargill for the TBS Championship as it seemed that there was no one good enough to give her a real test.

Enter Kris Statlander. It seems like an age ago now but back in the spring of 2023, Statlander's career looked to be going the way of those who had all the potential in the world but the worst luck with injuries. In June 2020, Statlander tore her ACL in her left leg and was forced to spend ten months on the shelf, eventually returning to action in April 2021. Then in August 2022, she would tear her ACL in her other leg, as well as her lateral meniscus and missed another nine months of action. It seemed like she couldn't catch a break, but she made a full recovery just in time for Double or Nothing 2023.

She got one of, if not the biggest reaction of the entire show when she returned as fans across the world had cited her as the woman who should finally put an end to Cargill's reign. Statlander came in, completely wrecked Cargill in less than a minute and became the second-ever AEW TBS Champion in her first match back from injury. The moment rejuvenated the pay-per-view itself as the show had started to drag for some fans, as had Cargill's reign as there were so many women in AEW, including Statlander, who fans wanted to see turn the TBS Championship into the workhorse title. 

While technically not as good as Willow Nightingale vs. Julia Hart, Kris Statlander's victory over Jade Cargill gets higher placing thanks to the moment being so historically significant. Cargill would wrestle one more match in AEW, that being against Statlander on an episode of "AEW Rampage" in September which she lost, while Statlander held the title up until Full Gear in November where she lost it to...

The best move of Julia Hart's career has always been the moment she gave into the darkness and joined the House of Black. The mist that was sprayed into her eyes by Malakai Black in December 2021 seeped into her system and as time went on, she would morph into "The Princess of Darkness" we all know today. The other best move of her career was consistently working on improving her skill levels inside the ring to the point where she actually became a legitimate contender to Kris Statlander's AEW TBS Championship by the fall of 2023.

Hart and Statlander have a unique history together in AEW, with Hart's career in the company effectively tied to Statlander no matter what they do separately. Hart's first match with the company was against Statlander in April 2021. Hart would then suffer a second loss to Statlander almost one year to the day that she made her AEW debut, but that match would be the last time she would lose a match for 18 months. Hart gave into the dark side thanks to the House of Black and went on an 28-match unbeaten run, leading her right back to Statlander at WrestleDream 2023. 

Statlander retained on that night, but in the background was someone who was falling victim to the same thing Hart had all those years ago, Skye Blue. Hart would spray mist into the eyes of Blue, which slowly started to take control, but not before Full Gear 2023 where Hart wanted a rematch for the AEW TBS Championship against Statlander, while whatever was left of Blue's good side wanted revenge on "The Princess of Darkness." This resulted in a three-way match taking place at Full Gear 2023, which became the only event where the AEW TBS Championship changed hands in a match that featured more than one participant.

The match itself is rather underrated in the grand scheme of things. It had the unenviable task of being sandwiched in between a four way ladder match for the AEW Tag Team Championships, and the iconic Texas Death Match between Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland, so you would be forgiven if you forgot how this match went. With that said, this was an entertaining three way dance that gave everyone a chance to shine. Obviously, Statlander did a lot of the heavy lifting, both figuratively and literally, due to being the most experienced performer, but even though Hart and Blue were still fairly green at this point, they had their moments that had the KIA Forum on its feet.

Hart's Moonsault was a thing of beauty. The Code Blue is always impressive when done right, and the finish where Hart stole the win right from under Statlander's nose was a great decision. Not the cleanest match in the world, but good enough to be recommended and take third place on this watchlist. 

For as underrated as the AEW Full Gear 2023 three-way is, there is a gulf in class between that bout and the top two matches on this list. Everyone knew how good Willow Nightingale was heading into AEW Double or Nothing 2024, and the story of Nightingale being the one to put Mercedes Mone on the shelf for an entire year was one that had some people believing that their first AEW TBS Championship match should have main evented this show over Anarchy in the Arena. To make up for it, this was billed as one-third of a triple main event, which sounds good, but unless you're on last (especially if it's a two day event), it's not the real main event.

The big question mark heading into this match was Mone's health and whether she could work to the level she worked at as Sasha Banks in WWE. Ring rust was naturally going to play a part in the bout, but the first match back after an injury that legitimately could have seen Mone retire as a result could have also led to "The CEO" holding back in certain moments. However, you can't hold back when you're in there with someone like Nightingale as she might have the sunshine and rainbows personality, but she is capable of doing some serious damage when the time calls for it.

The overall result was a bout that breathed new life into a show that is a prime example of an AEW pay-per-view that feels like a marathon to get through. It was a David vs. Goliath affair with the roles reversed as the crowd were actively routing for the Goliath of Nightingale as Mone's David tried to chop the tree down by working over the leg whilst in control. She knew that if Nightingale didn't have a good base, moves like the Doctor Bomb and The Pounce wouldn't have the same sauce behind them. Nightingale fought back valiantly, and with the crowd kind of half-knowing that there was a good chance her reign could come to an end give that Mone was a fresh new signing, every near fall had people leaning in and believing Nightingale could do it. 

In the end, it was "The CEO" who emerged victorious, and even though her Mone Maker finishing move isn't the best move in the world (seriously Mercedes just stick to the Statement Maker), it got the job done for her. Easily the best title change in the lineage of the TBS Championship up to that point, but you just got the sense that there was an even better match to the one we saw at Double or Nothing 2024 in the lockers of Mone and Nightingale. It was just a question of when we would get to see that match.

This isn't recency bias talking, but I genuinely believe that this is one of the greatest matches in the history of the AEW women's division. 2025 was a banner year for AEW as a company, with many fans believing that it matched, or even surpassed, the beloved 2021, and having the final match of the year be one of the most anticipated rematches in the women's division was a decision that couldn't have gone wrong.

Both women walked into this bout having undergone some major changes. For Willow Nightingale, she had finally gotten some gold back around her waist in the form of the AEW Women's Tag Team Championships alongside Harley Cameron in the Babes of Wrath, who actually eliminated Mercedes Mone and Athena from the tournament to crown the inaugural champions. As for "The CEO," she had reached the pinnacle of the industry by holding 13 belts representing 11 different championships from companies across the world. She was the longest reigning AEW TBS Champion, and was aiming to finish 2025 by matching Jade Cargill's record of 25 successful defenses.

With that said, Mone had lost the ROH Women's World Television and RevPro Undisputed British Women's Championships in the lead up to this match. She failed to take the AEW Women's Tag Team Championships from The Babes of Wrath at Worlds End 2025, and was still haunted by the fact that she had yet to win the AEW Women's World Championship. Mone had become erratic and aggressive, unhinged and dangerous, and that was evident in the way she carried herself through this match. She had already gotten close to her final form in AEW, and was having arguably the greatest year of her career, but would her emotions get the better of her?

At times, yes they did get the better of her, but it was Nightingale who made all of Mone's mistakes count. She channeled all of the people who helped her get to where she is today in order to get over the line, and with both women having so much on the line going into, every near fall was believable and exciting. Nightingale and Mone weren't going to let AEW head into 2026 with a whimper, they were going to throw everything they had at each other in order to come away with the win.

In a world where finishers are less effective than a chocolate teapot left out in the sun, the sight of Mone not kicking out of the Doctor Bomb and Nightingale getting the win was something that genuinely surprised people, but that's what made it so great. Easily the best AEW TBS Championship match ever, the best title change the belt has seen so far, and with "The CEO" still yet to wrestle in 2026, a rubber match between the two ladies in AEW could finally be the moment where a women's match main events an AEW pay-per-view.