Tony Khan reveals real reason why he put the AEW National Title on Ricochet

Ricochet's long-running quest for gold in AEW finally culminated in his National Championship win last month at Full Gear 2025. Now, the company's Creative Head, Tony Khan, has opened up on why he booked the premier high flyer to hold the brand new title.

Ahead of this year's edition of Full Gear, a Casino Gauntlet Match was announced for the pay-per-view to crown the inaugural AEW National Champion. The bout featured a number of the Jacksonville-based promotion's top and budding names, including The Hurt Syndicate's Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Lashley, the Death Riders' Claudio Castagnoli, Daniel Garcia, and Wheeler Yuta, Orange Cassidy, Mike Bailey, Kevin Knight, and more. However, it was Ricochet who ultimately secured the win and the title after landing his Spirit Gun finisher on The Jet.

During his recent appearance on the Battleground podcast, Tony Khan shared his thoughts on The Future of Flight becoming the first-ever National Champion, pointing to the latter's global credibility as a performer and as a representative of All Elite Wrestling in other promotions where the title may be defended.

“We’ve got a new National Champion, Ricochet, who will be defending that title all over the world. And he’s somebody that not only AEW fans respect–I believe he’s a great, great wrestler–but also someone who is a huge name in wrestling and a great person to represent [All Elite Wrestling], not just here on our TV shows, but also when traveling to other promotions in America.”

To further justify crowning Ricochet, TK proceeded to bring up the star's performances in inter-promotional events like Wrestle Dynasty, Forbidden Door, and Fantastica Mania Mexico earlier this year, stating:

“Companies like Ring of Honor, New Japan Strong, and even in Mexico with CMLL–lots of other promotions want to bring in Ricochet. He’s a hot booking right now as the National Champion. Ricochet’s gone and represented AEW in New Japan. He’s represented [All Elite Wrestling] in CMLL. And he’s also a great TV star on our shows. He’s somebody that I would love to have in any kind of championship match in AEW at any time. So, I think he’s a great winner for that first National Championship.” [H/T - TJR Wrestling]

Ricochet is scheduled for his first AEW title defense

After The Demand's ambush on The Outrunners and Dalton Castle on Collision: Thanksgiving last month, Ricochet has been scheduled to have his first National Championship defense against The Party Peacock this Friday at ROH Final Battle 2025. This bout will be the first time an AEW championship will be on the line at a Ring of Honor event.

Match graphic for Ricochet vs Dalton Castle at ROH Final Battle [Source: @ringofhonor on X]

It remains to be seen if Castle will be able to put a quick end to Ricochet's first All Elite title run at Final Battle.