AEW International Championship

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. The current champion is Orange Cassidy, who is in his record second reign. He won the title by defeating Rey Fenix on Dynamite: Title Tuesday on October 10, 2023.

AEW International Championship
The former belt design as the AEW All-Atlantic Championship (2022–2023); the current version is the same but with the text "International" in place of "All-Atlantic"
Details
PromotionAll Elite Wrestling
Date establishedJune 8, 2022
Current champion(s)Orange Cassidy
Date wonOctober 10, 2023
Other name(s)
  • AEW All-Atlantic Championship
    (2022–2023)
  • AEW International Championship
    (2023–present)
Statistics
First champion(s)Pac
Most reignsOrange Cassidy (2)
Longest reignOrange Cassidy
(1st reign, 326 days)
Shortest reignJon Moxley
(17 days)
Oldest championOrange Cassidy
(39 years, 159 days)
Youngest championRey Fenix
(32 years, 264 days)
Heaviest championJon Moxley
(225 lb (102 kg))
Lightest championOrange Cassidy
(161 lb (73 kg))

Established as the AEW All-Atlantic Championship on June 8, 2022, the title was created to represent AEW's fans from around the world, but with no particular focus on the Atlantic Ocean or countries surrounding it. The inaugural champion was Pac. Since its establishment, the title has been defended in the Revolution Pro Wrestling and Over the Top Wrestling promotions, although most of its defenses have occurred in AEW, the latter of which has included defenses against wrestlers from New Japan Pro-Wrestling. On March 15, 2023, the title was rebranded as the AEW International Championship.

History
Inaugural champion Pac, who won the title as the AEW All-Atlantic Championship

The championship was unveiled by 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 a Revolution Pro Wrestling event, which was later shown on AEW's YouTube show, Dark, on July 12.[9] Pac also defended the title at an Over the Top Wrestling event on July 22.[10]

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.[11] 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,[12] but the title history was later amended to show that it is the same championship with Cassidy's reign as one continuous reign from when he originally defeated Pac for the title.[13]

Inaugural All-Atlantic Championship tournament
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]
England PacPin
Canada Ethan Page9:25[5]
England PacSub
Bulgaria MiroSub
Bulgaria Miro—[8]
Netherlands Malakai Black—[8]
Mexico Penta Oscuro9:49[6]
United States Clark Connors[lower-alpha 1]15:05[8]
Netherlands Malakai BlackPin
Japan Tomoaki Honma11:29[14]
United States Clark ConnorsPin
United States Clark Connors13:21[15]
Japan Tomohiro IshiiPin
Japan Tomohiro IshiiPin
Japan Yoshinobu Kanemaru19:01[14]
  1. Connors replaced Ishii who was not medically cleared.[7]

Belt design

Ron Edwardsen of Red Leather Belts designed 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, 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". 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.[16]

Reigns
Record two-time and current champion Orange Cassidy, whose first reign is the longest reign at 326 days

As of October 25, 2023, there have been five reigns between four champions. Pac was the inaugural champion. Orange Cassidy has the most reigns at two and his first reign is the longest reign at 326 days, while Jon Moxley has the shortest reign at 17 days. Rey Fenix is the youngest champion, winning the title at 32, while Cassidy is the oldest, winning his second title at 39.

Orange Cassidy is the current champion in his record second reign. He defeated Rey Fenix on Dynamite: Title Tuesday on October 10, 2023, in Independence, Missouri.[17]

Name Years
AEW All-Atlantic Championship June 8, 2022 – March 15, 2023
AEW International Championship March 15, 2023 – present
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. [18][19]
3 Jon Moxley September 3, 2023 All Out Chicago, IL 1 17 [20]
4 Rey Fenix September 20, 2023 Dynamite:
Grand Slam		 Flushing, Queens, NY 1 20 [21]
5 Orange Cassidy October 10, 2023 Dynamite:
Title Tuesday		 Independence, MO 2 15+ [17]

Combined reigns

As of October 25, 2023.

† Indicates the current champion
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns		 Combined days
1 Orange Cassidy †2341+
2 Pac1108
3 Rey Fenix120
4 Jon Moxley117

References
  1. Defelice, Robert (June 8, 2022). "AEW Introduces All-Atlantic Championship, First Champion To Be Crowned At AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door". Fightful. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  2. "New Japan Road Night 4 (June 20) Preview". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. June 13, 2022. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  3. Casey, Connor (June 8, 2022). "New AEW Championship Unveiled During AEW Dynamite". ComicBook.com. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  4. Barnett, Jake (June 8, 2022). "6/8 AEW Dynamite results: Barnett's live review of Jon Moxley vs. the Casino Battle Royale winner for a spot in the Interim AEW World Championship match at Forbidden Door, Pac vs. Buddy Matthews, Thunder Rosa vs. Marina Shafir for the AEW Women's Title, Hangman Page vs. David Finlay". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  5. Powell, Jason (June 15, 2022). "6/15 AEW Dynamite results: Powell's live review of Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus vs. The Young Bucks in a ladder match for the AEW Tag Titles, Chris Jericho vs. Ortiz in a hair vs. hair match, Toni Storm vs. Britt Baker, Will Ospreay vs. Dak Harwood, Ethan Page vs. Miro in an All Atlantic Title qualifying match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  6. Barnett, Jake (June 22, 2022). "6/22 AEW Dynamite results: Barnett's live review of Jon Moxley and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Chris Jericho and Lance Archer, Bryan Danielson addresses his future, Will Ospreay, Kyle Fletcher, and Mark Davis vs. Orange Cassidy, Trent Beretta, and Rocky Romero, Penta Oscuro vs. Malakai Black in an All Atlantic Title qualifier". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  7. 【新日本】石井智宏が左ヒザ負傷で『AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door』大会欠場 [[NJPW] Tomohiro Ishii will miss the "AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door" event due to a left knee injury]. proresu-today.com (in Japanese). June 24, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  8. Powell, Jason (June 26, 2022). "AEW-NJPW Forbidden Door results: Powell's live review of Jon Moxley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the Interim AEW World Title, Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada vs. Hangman Page vs. Adam Cole for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title, Thunder Rosa vs. Toni Storm for the AEW Women's Title, Will Ospreay vs. Orange Cassidy for the IWGP U.S. Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  9. Lee, Joseph (July 13, 2022). "Tony Khan Says AEW All-Atlantic Title Will Be Defended Differently Than Other Belts". 411mania. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  10. Lambert, Jeremy (July 4, 2022). "PAC To Defend AEW All-Atlantic Title In OTT Wrestling". Fightful. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  11. Russell, Skylar (March 8, 2023). "AEW To 'Level Up' All-Atlantic Championship Into AEW International Championship On 3/15 Dynamite". Fightful. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  12. G., Joey (March 15, 2023). "Orange Cassidy Defeats Jeff Jarrett To Become The First AEW International Champion". Wrestling Headlines. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  13. "International Championship History". All Elite Wrestling. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  14. "New Japan Road 2022.06.20". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved June 20, 2022.
  15. "New Japan Road 2022.06.21". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  16. All Elite Wrestling [@AEW] (June 8, 2022). "Here is a better look at the brand new #AEW All-Atlantic Championship crafted by #RedLeatherBelts that was shown for the first time on TONIGHT's LIVE #AEWDynamite" (Tweet). Retrieved June 8, 2022 – via Twitter.
  17. Powell, Jason (October 10, 2023). "AEW Dynamite results (10/10): Powell's live review of Adam Copeland vs. Luchasaurus, Rey Fenix vs. Adam Copeland for the AEW International Title, Jay White vs. Hangman Page, Chris Jericho vs. Powerhouse Hobbs". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  18. Powell, Jason (October 12, 2022). "10/12 AEW Dynamite results: Powell's live review of Chris Jericho vs. Bryan Danielson for the ROH Championship, Pac vs. Orange Cassidy for the AEW All-Atlantic Championship, "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry vs. Luchasaurus, Toni Storm and Hikaru Shida vs. Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter, Swerve Strickland vs. Billy Gunn". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  19. Powell, Jason (March 15, 2023). "3/15 AEW Dynamite results: Barnett's live review of House of Black vs. The Elite vs. Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, and Daniel Garcia for the AEW Trios Titles, Orange Cassidy vs. Jeff Jarrett for the AEW International Title, MJF's Re-Bar Mitzvah, Jade Cargill's Canadian open challenge for the TBS Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
  20. Powell, Jason (September 3, 2023). "AEW All Out results: Powell's live review of Orange Cassidy vs. Jon Moxley for the AEW International Title, Luchasaurus vs. Darby Allin for the TNT Title, Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks in a strap match, Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
  21. Powell, Jason (September 20, 2023). "AEW Dynamite results (9/20): Powell's live review of MJF vs. Samoa Joe for the AEW World Title, Saraya vs. Toni Storm for the AEW Women's Title, Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Kingston in a title vs. title match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
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