On January 1, 2019, the American
professional wrestling promotion
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) was founded and its inaugural event and
pay-per-view (PPV),
Double or Nothing, was scheduled for May 25. The unveiling of the promotion's men's
world championship was first teased on AEW's
YouTube channel on May 22, where actor and comedian
Jack Whitehall humorously attempted to reveal the title belt but struggled to get the championship out of its bag. He subsequently revealed that the winner of Double or Nothing's Buy In pre-show
battle royal, called the
Casino Battle Royale, would face the winner of the PPV's main event at a future date to determine the inaugural AEW World Champion. AEW president
Tony Khan confirmed that since the promotion would not have weight divisions, the AEW World Championship was not a "heavyweight championship". However, on occasion, the promotion, as well as AEW wrestlers and commentators, have referred to it as the "world heavyweight championship". At Double or Nothing, the pre-show Casino Battle Royale was won by
"Hangman" Adam Page, while
Chris Jericho defeated
Kenny Omega in the PPV's main event, setting up the inaugural championship match. During the event, pro-wrestling veteran
Bret Hart unveiled the AEW World Championship belt. Shortly after Double or Nothing, the inaugural championship match was scheduled for AEW's next major PPV,
All Out, on August 31. At All Out, Jericho defeated Page in the main event to become the inaugural AEW World Champion. The following day, it was reported by
Tallahassee Police that the physical championship belt was stolen from Jericho's limousine while he was traveling; it was recovered on September 4. During Kenny Omega's reign in April 2021, the title was defended for the first time outside of AEW in then-partner promotion
Impact Wrestling (renamed Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, or TNA, in January 2024). At Impact's event
Rebellion on April 25, 2021, Omega defeated
Impact World Champion Rich Swann in a
Winner Takes All match.
Jon Moxley (left) and
lineal champion CM Punk (right) on the August 17, 2022, episode of
Dynamite, a week before their match to determine the undisputed AEW World Champion On the June 3, 2022, episode of
Rampage, reigning champion
CM Punk, who had won the title just days prior at
Double or Nothing, announced that he was injured and required surgery. He initially wanted to relinquish the title; however, AEW president Tony Khan decided that an
interim champion would be crowned until Punk's return, after which, Punk would face the interim champion to determine the undisputed champion. To determine the interim champion, AEW set up the
AEW Interim World Championship Eliminator Series that would culminate in a match at
AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door on June 26, a co-promoted event between AEW and
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The first two matches took place on the June 8 episode of
Dynamite. A Casino Battle Royale opened the show, which
Kyle O'Reilly won. O'Reilly then faced the number one ranked singles competitor
Jon Moxley in the main event of the episode, which Moxley won. The third match took place on June 12 at NJPW's
Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall between
Hiroshi Tanahashi and
Hirooki Goto, which Tanahashi won; Tanahashi was originally scheduled to face Punk at Forbidden Door for the title before Punk's injury. At Forbidden Door, Moxley defeated Tanahashi to become the interim AEW World Champion. Punk made his return in early August and was defeated by Moxley on the August 24 episode of
Dynamite in a match to determine the undisputed champion. During the
All Out post-event media scrum on September 5, CM Punk, who had just won his second AEW World Championship at the event, got into a legitimate physical altercation backstage with AEW executive vice presidents
The Elite (Kenny Omega,
Matt Jackson, and
Nick Jackson), following berating comments he had made about them and others during the scrum. As a result, AEW president Tony Khan suspended all involved. On the September 7 episode of
Dynamite, Khan announced that both the World Championship and
Trios Championship, held by The Elite, were vacated. Khan then announced that there would be a tournament to crown a new AEW World Champion. The
AEW Grand Slam Tournament of Champions began that same episode and continued across episodes of
Dynamite and
Rampage until its conclusion at
Dynamite: Grand Slam on September 21. Tournament competitors included
Bryan Danielson, "Hangman" Adam Page,
Sammy Guevara,
Darby Allin, Chris Jericho, and Jon Moxley. In the tournament final at Grand Slam, Moxley defeated Danielson to win the championship for a record third time. In January 2026 during
MJF's second reign, he defended the AEW World Championship for the first time on the
independent circuit. At Limitless Wrestling's event, Limitless Rumble, on January 16, 2026, MJF retained the title over Alec Price. The
Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that AEW's plan was that MJF would continue to defend the title on the indies, similar to touring world champions like
Ric Flair,
Harley Race, and
Buddy Rogers, who defended the
NWA World Heavyweight Championship across the
National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA)
territories, but MJF clarified that he would only do so against worthy opponents, implying that indie defenses would be rare occurrences.
"Real World Championship" (2023) with the unofficial "Real World Championship" at
All In 2023. CM Punk returned to AEW for the debut episode of
Collision on June 17, 2023. During his
promo, he held a red bag he described as containing "something he never lost". The following month, Punk unveiled the contents of the bag to be the AEW World Championship belt that he had won at the 2022 All Out. He subsequently referred to himself as the "real world's champion" as he was never defeated for the title, and then spray painted a black X on the center plate (the X being a symbol Punk has used throughout his career in reference to his
straight edge lifestyle). While the "Real World Championship" was not officially recognized by AEW, Punk defended the title on AEW programming. However, following a legitimate
backstage incident that occurred at
All In on August 27, Punk's contract was terminated and the "Real World Championship" was subsequently dropped. ==Belt design==