FTW Championship

The FTW Championship is a professional wrestling championship that originated in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 1998. After being retired in 1999, the championship was inactive for 21 years until being resurrected in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in 2020 by its creator, Taz. The current champion is Brian Cage, who is in his first reign.

FTW Championship
Details
PromotionExtreme Championship Wrestling
(1998–1999)
All Elite Wrestling
(2020–present)
Date establishedMay 14, 1998
Current champion(s)Brian Cage
Date wonJuly 2, 2020
(aired July 8, 2020)
Other name(s)
  • FTW Heavyweight Championship
    (1998–1999)
  • FTW Championship
    (2020–present)

In both ECW and AEW, the FTW Championship has been presented as a renegade title that is "unsanctioned" by officials.

History

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1998–1999)
Taz, who created the title and owns the rights of the championship
"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 Heavyweight Championship was designed, created, and conceived by Taz who also owns the copyright 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 states that fans appreciated the message conveyed by the belt, which represented contempt for bosses and society, and says that he believes 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 belt, being the sole World Heavyweight Champion in the promotion.

All Elite Wrestling (2020–present)

On Night 2 of Fyter Fest, Taz, who owns the rights of the title, reinstated the title and awarded the FTW Championship to Brian Cage. Jon Moxley was unable to defend the AEW World Championship in their scheduled title match that night as he was self-quarantining after his wife Renee Young had tested positive for COVID-19, mirroring the circumstances behind the title's inception.[8]

Design
The original FTW Heavyweight Championship belt
(Introduced on May 14, 1998)

When the title was first created, the FTW belt was actually the same custom ECW Television Championship belt Taz used for a while with a leather strap that Taz painted orange and 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 a completely new and original FTW belt with a "TAZ" logo engraved in the belt's centerplate.

Taz states 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]

Title history
Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
<1 Reign lasted less than a day
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW)
1 Taz May 14, 1998 It Ain't Seinfeld Queens, New York 1 219 Taz introduced the championship during a storyline. [10]
2 Sabu December 19, 1998 Hardcore TV Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1 92 This was a triple threat match, also involving Justin Credible.
Title change aired on December 23, 1998, on tape delay.		 [5]
3 Taz March 21, 1999 Living Dangerously Asbury Park, New Jersey 2 <1 This was an Extreme Death match. [6][7]
— Unified March 21, 1999 Living Dangerously Asbury Park, New Jersey — — Taz defeated Sabu to unify the ECW FTW Heavyweight Championship with the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.
All Elite Wrestling (AEW)
4 Brian Cage July 2, 2020 Fyter Fest
Night 2		 Jacksonville, Florida 1 221+ Taz reintroduced the title, and awarded to Cage, of whom he was the manager.
Aired on tape delay on July 8, 2020.		 [11][8]

Combined reigns
Current champion Brian Cage

As of February 8, 2021.

† Indicates the current champion
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns		 Combined days
1 Taz2219
2 Brian Cage †1221+
3 Sabu192

References
  1. Johnson, Mike. "HOW TAZ WAS ABLE TO RESURRECT THE FTW CHAMPIONSHIP IN ALL ELITE WRESTLING". PWInsider. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  2. Fritz, Brian (2006). Between the Ropes: Wrestling's Greatest Triumphs and Failures. ECW Press. p. 99. ISBN 1554902681.
  3. Loverro, Thom (2007). The Rise & Fall of ECW: Extreme Championship Wrestling. Simon and Schuster. p. 223. ISBN 1416513124.
  4. Siciliano, Mike (2006-02-10). "Pro's from the Palace (#78) - DVD Review Today: ECW Blood Sport". WrestleView. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  5. Woodward, Buck (2006-12-19). "This Day in History: Sabu Defeats Taz for the FTW Title". PWInsider.com. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  6. Whaley, Mike. "ECW delivers at Living Dangerously". SLAM! Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  7. Gramlich, Chris. "ECW rises to the occasion". SLAM! Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer.
  8. Barnett, Jake (July 8, 2020). "7/8 AEW Dynamite results: Barnett's live review of Fyter Fest night two with Kenny Omega and Hangman Page vs. Private Party for the AEW Tag Titles, Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy, FTR and The Young Bucks vs. Pentagon Jr., Rey Fenix, The Butcher, and The Blade, Lance Archer vs. Joey Janela". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  9. The Rise and Fall of ECW (DVD). WWE Home Video. 2004.
  10. Keller, Wade (2003-05-26). "ECW TV: Fans mock Bigelow for tapping to Taz - 5 Yrs Ago". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  11. HIGHLIGHTS | TAZ REVEALS THE FTW CHAMPIONSHIP | FYTER FEST NIGHT 2, 7/8/20. All Elite Wrestling. July 8, 2020. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
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