FTW Title To Be Defended At AEW Battle Of The Belts
The FTW Title will be defended during Saturday's AEW Battle of The Belts special on TNT.
FTW Champion Ricky Starks interrupted the announcers on tonight's AEW Rampage episode and said he originally thought it was a shame that the FTW Title was not on the line at Battle of The Belts, so he went to AEW President Tony Khan, and got what he wanted.
Starks then revealed that he will be defending the FTW Title against Matt Sydal. Starks said he picked Sydal as his opponent to prove to Dante Martin that he can defeat Sydal in one shot, when it took Martin three. Starks' Team Taz stablemate Powerhouse Hobbs will face Martin on next week's AEW Dynamite.
This will be just the third FTW Title defense for Starks. He won the title from former stablemate Brian Cage at Fyter Fest Night 1 on July 14, then retained it over Cage on the October 8 edition of Rampage. His last title defense was over Sonny Kiss during Day 5 of Chris Jericho's "Rock 'N' Wrestling Rager at Sea" cruise on October 25.
The one-hour AEW Battle of The Belts special will air tomorrow night, Saturday, January 8, from the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, NC. The local start time is 7pm ET, but the start time on TNT is 8pm. Below is the updated card, along with the Rampage promo from Starks:
AEW Women's World Title Match
Riho vs. Britt Baker (c)
Interim AEW TNT Title Match
Sammy Guevara vs. Dustin Rhodes
FTW Title Match
Matt Sydal vs. Ricky Starks (c)
Another incredible match has been added to #AEW's #BattleOfTheBelts!
It's #RickyStarks vs. @MattSydal for the FTW Title TOMORROW LIVE at 8/7c on @TNTDrama! pic.twitter.com/qpUjat9YvH— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 8, 2022