In March 2020,
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) established the
AEW TNT Championship as a
television championship for the men's division, named after the
TNT television network, owned by
WarnerMedia (now
Warner Bros. Discovery). In May 2021, it was announced that AEW's flagship program,
Dynamite, would be moving from TNT to the network's sister channel,
TBS, also owned by Warner, in January 2022, while AEW's other core program at the time,
Rampage, would remain on TNT. Despite
Dynamite moving to TBS, wrestling journalist
Dave Meltzer reported that the TNT Championship would not be renamed. Then-AEW executive and wrestler
Cody Rhodes also affirmed that there were no plans to rename the championship and that there were no plans for a separate TBS Championship for male wrestlers. It was later reported that the promotion would introduce a secondary women's championship and it would instead be called the TBS Championship. Prior to the October 6, 2021, second anniversary episode of
Dynamite, AEW President and
Chief Executive Officer Tony Khan said there would be a major announcement made on the show. During the episode, AEW commentator
Tony Schiavone and referee
Aubrey Edwards officially unveiled the AEW TBS Championship as a television championship for the women's division. AEW announced that the inaugural champion would be determined by a
single-elimination tournament. The tournament bracket was revealed on the October 22 episode of
Rampage with a 12-woman field. The tournament itself began on the October 23 episode of
Dynamite and concluded on the January 5, 2022, episode, the show's debut broadcast on TBS.
TBS Championship Tournament On the October 22, 2021, episode of
Rampage, the participants of the inaugural TBS Championship Tournament were revealed. Tony Khan announced on
Busted Open Radio that the tournament would have a 12-woman field with four of them receiving a first round
bye. ==Belt design==