Inaugural National Champion crowned at AEW Full Gear
Despite the early odds being against him, Ricochet survived a Casino Gauntlet match at Saturday’s AEW Full Gear to become the company’s inaugural National Champion.
Ricochet picked up the win after hitting a Spirit Gun on Kevin Knight after Knight had hit a UFO splash on Wheeler Yuta. That was preceded by a Yuta busaiku knee on Orange Cassidy as he was about to hit Ricochet with an Orange Punch.
The title belt was brought out from the back by Ricochet’s faction mates, the Gates of Agony. While not of the NWA title lineage, it does share the same name.
It’s his first title anywhere since a 42-day inaugural run with the WWE Speed title in 2024. Before that, he held the WWE Intercontinental title for nearly 100 days in 2022.
The Gauntlet match was started by Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin of The Hurt Syndicate. They did some basic wrestling to kill time until Ricochet came out number three to call them out on it when the two were then jumped from behind by the Gates of Agony to give Ricochet the brief advantage.
The bout also featured Claudio Castagnoli, “Speedball” Mike Bailey, Mark Davis, Daniel Garcia, and Matt Menard.
The champion already has his first title defense set as he will be part of next month’s Ring of Honor Final Battle event from Columbus, Ohio.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.