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 around the world. The current and inaugural champion is Orange Cassidy, who is in his first reign.

AEW International Championship
The former belt design as the All-Atlantic Championship (2022–2023); the International Championship is the same but with the text "International" in place of "All-Atlantic"
Details
PromotionAll Elite Wrestling
Date establishedAll-Atlantic Championship
  • June 8, 2022
International Championship
  • March 15, 2023
Date retiredAll-Atlantic Championship
  • March 15, 2023
Current champion(s)Orange Cassidy
Date wonOctober 12, 2022
(as All-Atlantic Championship)
March 15, 2023
(as International Championship)
Other name(s)
  • AEW All-Atlantic Championship (2022–2023)
Statistics
First champion(s)All-Atlantic Championship
International Championship
Final champion(s)All-Atlantic Championship
Most reignsAll titleholders (1)
Longest reignAll-Atlantic Championship
International Championship
Combined
Shortest reignAll-Atlantic Championship
Oldest championAll-Atlantic Championship
Youngest championAll-Atlantic Championship
  • Pac
    (35 years, 308 days)
Heaviest championAll-Atlantic Championship
  • Pac
    (194 lb (88 kg))
Lightest championAll-Atlantic Championship

The title is considered the successor to the AEW All-Atlantic Championship, which had been established on June 8, 2022, and its inaugural champion was Pac. On March 15, 2023, during Orange Cassidy's reign, the All-Atlantic title was rebranded as the International Championship. AEW regards this date as the retirement of the former and the establishment of the latter, with Cassidy considered the final All-Atlantic Champion and inaugural International Champion. Although considered a new title, it retains the lineage of the All-Atlantic Championship, which had only two title holders.

History

AEW All-Atlantic Championship (2022–2023)
Inaugural AEW All-Atlantic Champion Pac

On the June 8, 2022, episode of Dynamite, the American professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) unveiled the AEW All-Atlantic Championship to be a secondary championship for the men's division. Despite its 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". The inaugural champion was crowned in a four-way match which was held at the AEW x NJPW: 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 match 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 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 All-Atlantic Championship would defend the title around the world 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]

AEW International Championship (2023–present)

On the March 8, 2023, episode of Dynamite, Tony Khan announced that Orange Cassidy's defense of the title that night was the final for 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. Although it retains the characteristics of the All-Atlantic title, AEW considers this to be a new title, with Cassidy regarded as the final All-Atlantic Champion and inaugural International Champion; the latter retains the lineage of the former, which only had two title holders.[11]

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]
United Kingdom PacPin
Canada Ethan Page9:25[5]
United Kingdom PacSub
Bulgaria MiroSub
Bulgaria Miro15:05[8]
Netherlands Malakai Black15:05[8]
Mexico Penta Oscuro9:49[6]
United States Clark Connors[lower-alpha 1]15:05[8]
Netherlands Malakai BlackPin
Japan Tomoaki Honma11:29[12]
United States Clark ConnorsPin
United States Clark Connors13:21[13]
Japan Tomohiro IshiiPin
Japan Tomohiro IshiiPin
Japan Yoshinobu Kanemaru19:01[12]
  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.[14]

Reigns
Inaugural and current International Champion Orange Cassidy, who was also the final All-Atlantic Champion

As the All-Atlantic Championship, there were only two reigns between two champions. Pac was the inaugural champion and he had the shortest reign at 108 days. Orange Cassidy is considered the final All-Atlantic Champion with his reign lasting 154 days. Pac was also the youngest All-Atlantic Champion when he won the title at 35, while Cassidy was the oldest at 38.

As the International Championship, Orange Cassidy is the current and inaugural champion. He defeated Jeff Jarrett to become inaugural International Champion on the March 15, 2023, episode of Dynamite in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. On this episode, the All-Atlantic Championship, which Cassidy held, was retired and replaced by the International Championship.

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
AEW All-Atlantic Championship
1 Pac June 26, 2022 AEW x NJPW: 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 1 154 [15]
— Deactivated March 15, 2023 Dynamite Winnipeg, MB, Canada — — The AEW All-Atlantic Championship was retired and replaced by the AEW International Championship, which retains the lineage of the former. [16]
AEW International Championship
1 Orange Cassidy March 15, 2023 Dynamite Winnipeg, MB, Canada 1 64+ Orange Cassidy was announced as International Champion before the match with Jeff Jarrett began. Subsequently, Cassidy defeated Jarrett to retain the title. [16]

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. "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. June 22, 2022. 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. "New Japan Road 2022.06.20". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved June 20, 2022.
  13. "New Japan Road 2022.06.21". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. 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.
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