AEW TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher is approaching a major milestone. His upcoming title defense at AEW Full Gear will mark his ninth of the reign, and a victory would set a new record for the most defenses in a single TNT Championship run — breaking a record he currently shares with Cody Rhodes.
Speaking on “TMZ Inside The Ring,” Fletcher opened up about the weight of the title and the pressure that comes with chasing greatness.
“Especially a title like the TNT Championship, which has had such a crazy lineage, the amount of people, the people that have held it such like a high echelon, that you almost just by holding it feel like you have to live up to that,” Fletcher said. “I keep saying that I want to be the greatest TNT champion of all time, and when I think about that, it’s like that means I have to be better than all these people that have held this belt before me.”
When asked about potentially surpassing Cody Rhodes in the record books, Fletcher admitted the idea feels surreal.
“Proclaiming that I’m the greatest anti-champion of all time, and surpassing Cody as well … it’s a weird sense of, like, imposter syndrome, a little bit to me,” he said. “Cody Rhodes, currently, the number one star in probably all of wrestling right now, like the top dog. And to be like, Oh, I had a better championship race. Yeah, look at me.”
Despite the strangeness of overtaking a top WWE star, Fletcher said the situation also serves as motivation and reassurance.
“But it’s also very reassuring to me, like, oh, I mean, look at me. I’m doing better than Cody Rhodes, better than Miro, better than WWE. You know, it’s kind of a weird thing. It’s a weird feeling, but it also reassures me that I’m on the right path. I’m doing, doing the right thing, you know, moving in the right direction.”
Fletcher will put his TNT Championship — and the potential record — on the line this Saturday at AEW Full Gear, where he faces Mark Briscoe in a No Disqualification match.
