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Sammy Guevara Captures Interim TNT Championship At AEW Battle Of The Belts

By TJR Staff • Published 9th January 2022
Sammy Guevara poses with TNT Championship

Sammy Guevara defeated Dustin Rhodes at AEW Battle Of The Belts to be crowned the first-ever Interim TNT Champion.

Sammy Guevara was originally set to face Cody Rhodes for the TNT Championship at AEW Battle Of The Belts. However, the day before the event the match had to be called off.

On the January 7th episode of Rampage, AEW announced that Cody hadn’t been medically cleared to compete. Rhodes later revealed that he and Brandi were isolating with family who had tested positive for COVID-19.

In place of the scheduled bout, Battle Of The Belts saw Guevara instead square off against Dustin Rhodes in AEW’s first-ever Interim TNT Championship match.

The match itself was a violent affair, with Rhodes controlling much of the action. At one point he smashed Guevara’s knee into the steel ring steps and drove him to the floor with a piledriver. Guevara was able to come back and used his ariel offence to take ‘The Natural’ down with a double springboard flip.

Later in the match, Guevara attempted to put Rhodes through a table at ringside with a Spanish Fly, but he was countered with a Destroyer which sent the two crashing through the wood. Back in the ring, Rhodes laid out Guevara with multiple Cross-Rhodes’, but, out of desperation, Guevara escaped a Tiger Driver 98 and landed a kick.

The two then exchanged pin attempts with Guevara coming out on top for the pinfall victory, capturing the interim title.

Following the match, David Crockett presented Sammy Guevara with the Interim TNT Championship belt. He didn’t have time to celebrate, though, as Daniel Garcia made his way to the ring and slapped Guevara, leading to a brawl between the two. Later in the night, Guevara challenged Garcia to a match for the title on Dynamite.

Battle of the Belts also saw Britt Baker, DMD successfully defend the AEW Women’s Championship against Riho, while Ricky Starks remained the FTW Champion after seeing off a challenge from Matt Sydal.