AEW: 5 most surprising moments in 2020

#4 The AEW TNT Championship

It was a brutal Dog Collar match in AEW that helped established the TNT Championship.

AEW has a massive roster, which is why it was a pleasant surprise to see All Elite Wrestling announce a secondary title during the height of the pandemic this spring. The bigger surprise was how credible this new title has become in just a short period of time in 2020.

The title made its debut with an eight-man tournament that started with some excellent matches filmed at QT Marshall's Gym in Georgia in April. It led to a solid final between Lance Archer and Cody at AEW Double or Nothing. Cody became the inaugural champion, but that wasn't the end of making the newest title significant.

Cody Rhodes held a weekly defense of the TNT Championship on AEW Dynamite. Cody defended the new title and helped some young AEW talents like Jungle Boy, Sonny Kiss, and Marq Quen get valuable screen time.

They even used the title to bring in outside talent like Warhorse, Ricky Starks, and Eddie Kingston. It was the beginning of a great AEW career for the latter two.

Cody Rhodes shockingly lost the title to Brodie Lee on an episode of Saturday Night Dynamite in August. He would regain the title a few weeks later in a brutal Dog Collar Match that proved to be Brodie Lee’s final outing.

However, Cody Rhodes wasn't done elevating the title in 2020, as he then dropped it to Darby Allin at AEW Full Gear.

Seeing a new title debut was surprising enough, but seeing it defended almost weekly with so many memorable moments was even better.