How AEW Just Took Fan Service Too Far
Even the gentler description, the secondary title, instantly positions it as lesser-than. And if the idea is to get it over as a true prize equivalent to the World Championship, why? The AEW World Championship is already very prestigious in its feel, which is deeply impressive. Why dilute that?
A midcard/secondary title can develop a sense of prestige through identity. The WWF Intercontinental Title comfortably coexisted with the winged eagle because it set itself apart stylistically; the secondary title was the preserve of the technical artist and or the emerging singles player, where the WWF Champion was the hulking, larger-than-life megastar. The early model for the Television Championship, in Mid-Atlantic, made tremendous use of stakes for its broadcasts in a way that complemented and did not detract from the aura and purpose of the touring World Heavyweight champion.
The TNT Championship requires an identity - or an in-canon reason to exist, at least. What we know of AEW's territorial inspiration leads one to suspect that the Television Title is the clear model. The shorter time limit would allow for more urgent and dramatic bangers, and if the Mid-Atlantic/JCP prophesy is in fact fulfilled, watching a Sammy Guevara or an MJF find creative ways to run down the clock and retain the strap should make for tremendous television - and a tremendous pay-per-view moment, when the clock runs down on them. But even at its most theoretically promising, the TNT Title feels like a device more than a prize.
The secondary title isn't purely an anachronism in the modern era.
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