Taz Pays Heartfelt Tribute After Title Retired At AEW Grand Slam
Taz has tipped his orange hat to several AEW competitors.
During AEW Dynamite Grand Slam at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Hook put the FTW Title on the line against Roderick Strong. The match was especially meaningful for Hook and his father Taz on commentary whose ties to New York City run deep.
When all was said and done, Hook earned the win and the respect of Strong, who shook the hand of his young rival after the match.
After the match, Hook was interviewed by Tony Schiavone and he declared the title vacant before handing the belt to an emotional Taz at the commentary desk.
Taz created the title in 1998 while with ECW and before he left the company, Sabu also got his hands on the gold. The veteran brought back the title in 2020 as he headed up ‘Team Taz.’
During its Renaissance, the title was held by Brian Cage, Ricky Starks, Jack Perry, Chris Jericho, and Hook.
Taz Reflects On An Emotional Night At AEW Grand Slam
In the hours after the show, Taz took to social media to pay tribute to everyone who held the title, and all the fans who supported the championship in both AEW and ECW.
I would like to thank all of the men whom have held the FTW Championship….
@TheRealSabuECW @briancagegmsi @starkmanjones @boy_myth_legend @IAmJerich & @730hookAnd also any fan that has supported/enjoyed this championship during the ECW years or in modern day wrestling during the current AEW years…thank you.
Former champion Ricky Starks was also quick to pay tribute to the title.
.@OfficialTAZ a great list of champs. Salute to you my dude
Elsewhere at Grand Slam, Nigel McGuinness came up short in his first singles match in 13 years with defeat to Bryan Danielson. Meanwhile, Mariah May retained the Women’s Tag Team Title with a win over Yuka Sakazaki and the Young Bucks retained the World Tag Team Titles after seeing off Kyle Fletcher & Will Ospreay.
In the main event, Jon Moxley defeated Darby Allin to earn a shot at Bryan Danielson’s World Title at WrestleDream.