AEW TNT Championship Belt Maker Comments On It Being Unfinished

Ahead of Double Or Nothing, All Elite Wrestling revealed the TNT Championship belt. It received a largely negative reaction from fans and was quickly compared to the WWE 24/7 Championship and the Raw Tag Team Titles.

Tony Schiavone later revealed on commentary the belt had an underwhelming appearance because it was unfinished and the coronavirus pandemic had disrupted its production. 

The maker of the belt RED Leather commented on the situation on his Facebook page. He revealed he told AEW the title would be finished by Double Or Nothing, but the coronavirus pandemic meant the platers he normally uses are solely working on respirators and equipment for emergency services which made it impossible to finish the belt in time. 

RED Leather wrote: "Accurate image of the TNT belt made by myself. Unfortunately due to Covid-19 the platers I used are working on skeleton crews and can only work on respirators/emergency equipment. Once regular business resumes this belt will get some much needed highlights in nickel and gold as well as a relief TNT logo. Warning: Vulgar comments will be deleted and the owners of the comments banned. Honest opinions good or bad are fine.

"They announced it would be done for Double or nothing. I was asked it I could get it done by then and I said yes. Then Covid19 happened and it made nickel plating impossible so I was told to do the best I could and while it’s not what the end result will be it’s still a reminder of Cody’s accomplishment and a testimony that even during a pandemic we will not stop doing the best we can with what we have."

The belt maker also revealed he used the WCW World Heavyweight Championship belt as inspiration for the TNT title and added bars upon Cody's request. TNT was the chief decision maker, however.

He later posted: "I drew a base from scratch pulling inspiration of the main plate of the WCW World. Then Cody said he wanted bars so I made them and added sideplates to contour the bars. They wanted something classic but not the same as what’s been seen before."

RED Leather added: "TNT is the sponsor so they get it the way they want."