AEW Reportedly Set A Date For Battle Of The Belts VIII

It's been a crazy week for AEW, as the MLB playoffs forced "AEW Dynamite" out of its usual Wednesday timeslot, leading to a head-to-head battle with "WWE NXT" on Tuesday night that resulted in loaded cards, special considerations, commercial-free blocks, a ratings win for "NXT," and civil, rational discussions from all sides. But with Tuesday's squabble now behind them, AEW can start focusing on the future again, which includes a return of their recurring special, Battle of the Belts.

A look at the upcoming TNT TV schedule reveals that Battle of the Belts VIII is set to air from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. on October 21, following that night's "AEW Collision" broadcast from Memphis, Tennessee. The news confirms a report from earlier this week suggesting Battle of the Belts would be returning in Memphis. This is the first Battle of the Belts special to air since this past July, when Battle of the Belts VII took place in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The show featured Orange Cassidy successfully defending the AEW International Championship against Lance Archer via count out, Toni Storm retaining the AEW Women's World Championship against Taya Valkyrie, and Luchasaurus retaining the TNT Championship against Shawn Spears.

The eighth edition of the AEW special will look to break the trend of past Battle of the Belts shows, which have seen successful title defenses in all but two matches. Both bouts involved Sammy Guevara, who would defeat Dustin Rhodes to win the AEW Interim TNT Championship at the first Battle of the Belts in January 2022, and then later defeated Scorpio Sky to win the TNT Title at Battle of the Belts II in April of that same year.