AEW International Championship

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

AEW International Championship
Error creating thumbnail: File missing
The AEW International Championship belt (2023–present)
Details
PromotionAll Elite Wrestling
Date establishedJune 8, 2022
Current championKazuchika Okada
Date wonJuly 12, 2025
Other names
  • AEW All-Atlantic Championship
    (2022–2023)
  • AEW International Championship
    (2023–present)
  • AEW American Championship
    (2024; unofficial)
Statistics
First championPac
Most reigns2 reigns:
Longest reignOrange Cassidy
(1st reign, 326 days)
Shortest reignJon Moxley
(17 days)
Oldest championKenny Omega
(41 years, 144 days)
Youngest championMJF
(28 years, 124 days)
Heaviest championKazuchika Okada
(236 lb (107 kg))
Lightest championOrange Cassidy
(161 lb (73 kg))

The AEW International Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It is a secondary championship for male wrestlers, and unlike AEW's other titles, which are almost exclusively defended on AEW programming, the International Championship can also be defended in other promotions globally, which has included Revolution Pro Wrestling, Over the Top Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, and Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling. The reigning champion is Kazuchika Okada, who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating the previous champion Kenny Omega at All In on July 12, 2025, in a Winner Takes All Unification match in which Okada defended the AEW Continental Championship, also becoming the inaugural AEW Unified Champion.

Established as the AEW All-Atlantic Championship on June 8, 2022, the title was created to represent AEW's fans from around the world with no particular focus on the Atlantic Ocean or countries surrounding it. The inaugural champion was Pac. On March 15, 2023, the title was rebranded as the AEW International Championship, while during MJF's reign from July to August 2024, he unofficially rebranded the title as the AEW American Championship. At All In: Texas on July 12, 2025, the title was unified with the AEW Continental Championship as the AEW Unified Championship, but maintaining their respective individual lineages.

History

[edit | edit source]
Inaugural champion Pac, who won the title as the AEW All-Atlantic Championship

The championship was unveiled by the American professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on the June 8, 2022, episode of Dynamite. It was originally established as the AEW All-Atlantic Championship and was created to be a secondary title for the men's division. Despite its original name seemingly centering on countries around the Atlantic Ocean, the company announced that the championship "[represented] the AEW fans watching around the world in over 130 countries".[1]

The inaugural champion was crowned in a four-way match which was held at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view event on June 26, which was co-produced with the Japanese promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). To determine the competitors in the four-way, six qualifying matches were held. Three of these featured wrestlers from AEW with the three winners advancing to the four-way match.[1] The other three qualifying matches were held between four wrestlers from NJPW in a single-elimination tournament fashion. The winners of NJPW's preliminary qualifiers faced off and the winner of that match advanced to the four-way at Forbidden Door.[2][3] On the AEW side, Pac,[4] Miro,[5] and Malakai Black[6] won their qualifiers; on the NJPW side, Tomohiro Ishii qualified but suffered a legitimate left knee injury and had to be replaced with the runner-up, Clark Connors.[7] At Forbidden Door, Pac became the inaugural champion by submitting Connors.[8]

In an interview with Robbie Fox on the My Mom's Basement podcast, AEW president Tony Khan confirmed that the championship would be defended differently than the company's other titles. Khan said that holders of the championship would defend the title internationally in other promotions, in addition to AEW. This interview came shortly after Pac defended the title at an event for Britain's Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro), which was later shown on AEW's YouTube show, Dark, on July 12.[9] Pac also defended the title at an event for Ireland's Over the Top Wrestling (OTT) on July 22.[10] Since then, the title has been defended in NJPW,[11] Mexico's Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL),[12] and Canada's Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling (MLP).[13]

Record-tying two-time champion Orange Cassidy; his first reign is also the longest reign at 326 days and he has the longest combined reign at 471 days. Cassidy originally won the title as the All-Atlantic Championship and it was renamed to International Championship during his first reign in March 2023.

On the March 8, 2023, episode of Dynamite, Tony Khan announced that Orange Cassidy's defense of the title that night was the final as the AEW All-Atlantic Championship. The following week on March 15, in celebration of the release of the Warner Bros. film Shazam! Fury of the Gods, the title was rebranded as the AEW International Championship due to AEW's broadcast partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery.[14] At the time, AEW had considered this to be a new title, with Cassidy regarded as the final All-Atlantic Champion and inaugural International Champion,[15] but the title history was later amended to show that it was the same championship with Cassidy's reign as one continuous reign from when he originally defeated Pac for the title.[16]

During Dynamite: Blood & Guts on July 24, 2024, reigning champion MJF, who won the title from Will Ospreay at the previous week's Dynamite 250, unofficially rebranded the title as the "AEW American Championship". He also introduced his own custom version of the title belt to reflect this unofficial name change.[17] After Ospreay regained the title at All In London the following month on August 25, the title was restored as the International Championship.[18]

At Revolution on March 9, 2025, Kenny Omega dethroned Konosuke Takeshita to win the International Championship.[19] After successfully defending the title at Dynamite: Fyter Fest on June 4, 2025,[20] Omega was confronted by AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada, setting up a Winner Takes All match for All In on July 12.[21] A week later during the contract signing at Dynamite: Summer Blockbuster, Tony Schiavone announced that the winner would also unify the International and Continental titles as the AEW Unified Championship.[22] During the All In: Texas media call just a few days prior to the event on July 8, Tony Khan clarified that neither the Continental or International Championships would be retired and that their lineages would still be intact along with a new lineage for the Unified Championship, and the champion has the option to carry around all three belts.[23] At All In, Okada defeated Omega to become the Unified Champion.[24] Amid confusion over the Unified Championship in regards to the 2025 Continental Classic (C2), which began in late November, it was confirmed that only the Continental Championship would be the prize of the tournament, with Okada only carrying the International Championship belt throughout the league matches. It was also revealed that should Okada lose the Continental Championship in the C2, he would also lose the Unified Championship.[25]

Inaugural championship tournament

[edit | edit source]
Preliminary Qualifiers
New Japan Road
(June 20, 2022)		Qualifiers
Dynamite
(June 8, 15, and 22, 2022)
New Japan Road
(June 21, 2022)		Final
Forbidden Door
(June 26, 2022)
Australia Buddy Matthews10:32[4]
United Kingdom PacPin
Canada Ethan Page9:25[5]
United Kingdom PacSub
Bulgaria MiroSub
Bulgaria Miro—[8]
Netherlands Malakai Black—[8]
Mexico Penta Oscuro9:49[6]
United States Clark Connors[a]15:05[8]
Netherlands Malakai BlackPin
Japan Tomoaki Honma11:29[26]
United States Clark ConnorsPin
United States Clark Connors13:21[27]
Japan Tomohiro IshiiPin
Japan Tomohiro IshiiPin
Japan Yoshinobu Kanemaru19:01[26]
  1. ^ Connors replaced Ishii who was not medically cleared.[7]

Belt design

[edit | edit source]

Ron Edwardsen of Red Leather Belts designed the standard version of the championship belt. At the top of the center plate is AEW's logo, while at the center of the plate is a globe with flags representing six countries: Mexico, China, the United Kingdom (UK), the United States, Canada, and Japan. Originally, the banner above the globe read "All-Atlantic", but this was changed to "International" with the championship's rebranding on March 15, 2023. Another banner below the globe reads "Champion". On each opposing side of the globe are lions standing upright facing inwards. Sitting on each side of the center plate are two side plates. The inner side plates include AEW's logo over a globe, while the outer side plates feature two wrestlers grappling. Filigree fills in the rest of each plate.[28]

Custom design

[edit | edit source]
Error creating thumbnail: File missing
The custom AEW American Championship belt used by MJF during his reign from July to August 2024.

During Dynamite: Blood & Guts on July 24, 2024, reigning champion MJF threw away the standard version of the championship belt. He then introduced his own custom version, which he unofficially rebranded as the AEW American Championship. It featured the overall same design as the standard version, but the strap was painted like the American flag, the globe at the center was replaced by the contiguous United States, also painted like the American flag, and the upper banner read "American" instead of "International". Additionally, the two inner side plates mocked the UK, as well as UK native Will Ospreay, who MJF beat to win the title, as one side plate said "Better Than Will and the UK Knows It", a play on MJF's catchphrase of "better than you and you know it", and the other side plate said "Only Country That Matters", with the text for each written in red, white, and blue except the UK text, which was adorned as the UK flag. The grappling wrestlers on the outer side plates were also replaced by MJF himself posing, showing him kneeling on one knee and flexing his bicep. MJF's logo also replaced AEW's logo at the top of the center plate and was also placed at the top of the inner side plates. This custom belt was also designed by Ron Edwardsen.[29] After MJF lost the title back to Ospreay at All In on August 25, the title was restored as the International Championship.[18]

Reigns

[edit | edit source]
Current champion Kazuchika Okada

As of July 1, 2026, there have been 12 reigns between 10 champions. Pac was the inaugural champion. Orange Cassidy and Will Ospreay are tied for the most reigns at two, with Cassidy's first reign being the longest reign at 326 days, and he has the longest combined reign at 471 days. Jon Moxley has the shortest reign at 17 days. MJF is the youngest champion, winning the title at 28, while Kenny Omega is the oldest, winning the title at 41.

The current champion is Kazuchika Okada, who is in his first reign. He defeated Kenny Omega at All In on July 12, 2025, in Arlington, Texas in a Winner Takes All Unification match in which Okada defended the AEW Continental Championship, subsequently becoming the AEW Unified Champion.[24]

Name Years
AEW All-Atlantic Championship June 8, 2022 – March 15, 2023
AEW International Championship March 15, 2023 – present
AEW American Championship July 24, 2024 – August 25, 2024
(unofficial name used by MJF during his reign)
Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 Pac June 26, 2022 Forbidden Door Chicago, IL 1 108 Defeated Clark Connors, Malakai Black, and Miro in a four-way tournament final to become the inaugural AEW All-Atlantic Champion. [8]
2 Orange Cassidy October 12, 2022 Dynamite Toronto, ON, Canada 1 326 The title was rebranded as the AEW International Championship on March 15, 2023. [30][31]
3 Jon Moxley September 3, 2023 All Out Chicago, IL 1 17 [32]
4 Rey Fenix September 20, 2023 Dynamite:
Grand Slam 		Flushing, Queens, NY 1 20 This was a legitimate unplanned finish, during the match Moxley suffered an injury and Rey pinned him. [33]
5 Orange Cassidy October 10, 2023 Dynamite: Title Tuesday Independence, MO 2 145 [34]
6 Roderick Strong March 3, 2024 Revolution Greensboro, NC 1 84 [35]
7 Will Ospreay May 26, 2024 Double or Nothing Paradise, NV 1 52 [36]
8 MJF July 17, 2024 Dynamite 250 North Little Rock, AR 1 39 During this reign, MJF unofficially rebranded the title as the AEW American Championship. [37][17]
9 Will Ospreay August 25, 2024 All In: London London, England 2 48 [38]
10 Konosuke Takeshita October 12, 2024 WrestleDream Tacoma, WA 1 148 This was a three-way match, also involving Ricochet. [39]
11 Kenny Omega March 9, 2025 Revolution Los Angeles, CA 1 125 [40]
12 Kazuchika Okada July 12, 2025 All In: Texas Arlington, TX 1 354+ This was a Winner Takes All match in which Okada also defended the AEW Continental Championship, also becoming the inaugural AEW Unified Champion. [24]

Combined reigns

[edit | edit source]

As of July 1, 2026.

† Indicates the current champion
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns 		Combined days
1 Orange Cassidy 2 471
2 Kazuchika Okada † 1 354+
3 Konosuke Takeshita 1 148
4 Kenny Omega 1 125
5 Pac 1 108
6 Will Ospreay 2 100
7 Roderick Strong 1 84
8 MJF 1 39
9 Rey Fenix 1 20
10 Jon Moxley 1 17

References

[edit | edit source]
  1. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  3. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  4. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  5. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  6. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  7. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  8. ^ a b c d e Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  9. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  10. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  11. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  12. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  13. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  14. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  15. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  16. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  17. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  18. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  19. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  20. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  21. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  22. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  23. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  24. ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  25. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  26. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  27. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  28. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  29. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  30. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  31. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  32. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  33. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  34. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  35. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  36. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  37. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  38. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  39. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  40. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
[edit | edit source]
  • Official AEW International Championship History at All Elite Wrestling
  • Error creating thumbnail: File missing Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 62: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons
Retrieved from "http://70.231.62.181/index.php?title=AEW_International_Championship&oldid=12284983"