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Ex-WWE Star Unhappy With AEW’s New Title

By Lyle Kilbane • Published Nov 06, 2025 07:50 EST
Spirit Squad WWE Tag Team Champions

A former WWE star has hit out at AEW after they announced the creation of yet another championship.

AEW currently boasts nine separate championships and will formally introduce a tenth when the winners of the tournament to crown the inaugural AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions are decided.

But, perhaps following in Mercedes Mone’s footsteps, that simply isn’t enough for Tony Khan. Khan announced that his company is introducing the AEW National Championship, with the first champion to be crowned at Full Gear on November 22nd.

A Casino Gauntlet match will take place, with the winner becoming the first titleholder of the new belt. Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin of The Hurt Syndicate have signed up to be part of that match, as has The Demand’s Ricochet.

Khan noted that the new title will travel across promotions and the globe, naming New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor as places the AEW National Champion might pop up. The title is an homage to the NWA National Championship that existed between 1980 and 1986, when it was unified with the NWA US Heavyweight Title.

Ex-WWE Star Mike Mondo Hits Out At New AEW Title

However, the NWA revived the belt in 1997, and its current champion had something to say about Tony Khan’s announcement.

NWA National Champion Mike Mondo – who is best known for his spell in WWE as part of the Spirit Squad – took to social media to make clear that he considered himself the legitimate national champion:

Let me be CLEAR. There is only ONE NWA & there is only one PRESTIGIOUS National Championship that holds legit lineage & has for decades. So to Tony Khan or anyone else confused… here’s the legit title, with the company it belongs to & the legit National Champion! MY NAME IS MIKE MONDO.

In recent years, former WWE stars, including the likes of Colt Cabana, Chris Adonis, Trevor Murdoch, and EC3, have all held the NWA National Championship.