AEW has officially announced the very first match for their Battle of the Belts special event which will air on TNT at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on January 8th.
It was confirmed during AEW Rampage on Friday night that Britt Baker will defend the AEW Women’s Championship against Riho at Battle of the Belts in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Bojangles Coliseum.
You can see the official announcement graphic from AEW’s Twitter account below.
Riho had earned the title shot by defeating Baker back on the November 26th edition of AEW Rampage in a Black Friday Deal Match. At that point, we knew Riho would get a title shot but didn’t know when. That question has now been answered.
While no other matches have officially been announced for Battle of the Belts, many assume that Bryan Danielson will face AEW World Champion “Hangman” Adam Page on the show. This past Wednesday night, Page and Danielson had an all-time classic on Dynamite — a match which ended in a draw after 60 minutes. The two are understandably due for a rematch, and Battle of the Belts seems like the perfect opportunity.
A Throwback to Yesterday
The Battle of the Belts TNT special has the flavor of the old WCW Clash of the Champions events which aired on TBS between 1988 and 1997. Most are expecting the AEW show to have PPV level excitement behind it by the time we get there.
The event will be held at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte (formerly known as the Charlotte Coliseum and Independence Arena). The venue was home to several WCW events in year’s past.
According to the WrestleTix Twitter account, AEW Battle of the Belts has sold around 73% of the alotted tickets as of press time. That’s good for 4,583 tickets sold out of a setup that will be able to hold 6,240 fans. We’d expect a good majority of those remaining tickets to move over the next couple of weeks, especially if Page vs. Danielson is announced.
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