AEW Vacates World & Trios Titles, New Trios Champions Crowned On Dynamite

Appearing in a taped promo to open Dynamite, AEW President Tony Khan announced that he had been "forced to vacate" the AEW World and Trios World Championships. Neither The Elite or CM Punk were mentioned by Khan, nor was a reason given for the competitors being stripped of the titles. 

The promotion then wasted no time in crowning new AEW Trios World Champions as the opening contest of Death Triangle vs. Best Friends and Orange Cassidy became an impromptu title match. Both teams fought back and forth during the contest and PAC won the belts for his team following a Black Arrow to Chuck Taylor.

Furthermore, it was revealed that a new AEW World Champion would be crowned in the Grand Slam Tournament of Champions that will culminate at Dynamite Grand Slam on September 21. The first round got underway on Dynamite and saw Bryan Danielson defeat Hangman Page. The American Dragon will face Chris Jericho next week. On the other side of the bracket, Sammy Guevara and Darby Allin will go one-on-one on Friday's Rampage for the right to face Jon Moxley next week.

CM Punk only recaptured the AEW World Championship at Sunday's All Out pay-per-view but he suffered a serious injury during his main event match with Jon Moxley and will require surgery, which necessitated a new champion being crowned. Both Punk's world title reign and The Elite's trios title reign were in question, though, following their involvement in a backstage fight after All Out. 

It emerged on Wednesday that Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks had been suspended by All Elite Wrestling. In an update, Punk has also been suspended.