Photo Credit-ComicBook.com
On the September 29th episode of Dynamite, Sammy Guevara defeated Miro, handing God’s Favorite Champion his first loss and winning the TNT Championship. By having Guevara dethrone Miro and his great title run, it showed great faith in the Spanish God, and should have led to a wave of momentum that propelled Sammy into the main event scene. Unfortunately, his booking since then has been disappointing.
Even though this article is largely negative, there have been several moments and matches I have enjoyed from the reign of the Spanish God. The biggest advantage of the TNT title is the open challenge aspect. Since it doesn’t rely on any rankings and month-long builds to matches, it allows the champion to face great wrestlers and have magnificent matches. Guevara has been no exception, wrestling great matches with Bobby Fish, Jay Lethal, and Tony Nese. These were all built up with short feuds paying off immediately.
However, the problem with the championship came in its extended feud between the Inner Circle and American Top Team. This was an underwhelming rivalry which was all about the promos and the moments, not about in ring work or wrestling psychology, which is Sammy’s strong suit. This matchup was also mostly about Dan Lambert, his MMA boys, and Chris Jericho. This format left The Men of The Year, Proud and Powerful, Jake Hager, and importantly Sammy Guevara feeling second fiddle to Jericho and his antics. This resulted in Guevara only defending the title once in a five week stretch, which is a bad look for AEW’s workhorse title.
Sammy Guevara will have his fifth title defense against Cody Rhodes on the Christmas Day Rampage. Working with Cody comes with a lot of baggage, with the fan reaction he’s getting and the odd booking surrounding that reaction. It doesn’t help that Cody defeating Guevara for the title and turning into a massive heel is the most plausible thing in the world. However, I believe a win for Sammy would be a massive turning point, allowing Guevara to improve his title reign. By having him defend the title about twice a month for the next three months, it gives the run time to breathe and keeps the championship prestigious and important.
