# 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 reigning champion is Kenny Omega, who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating the previous champion Konosuke Takeshita at Revolution on March 9, 2025.
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. Since its establishment, the title has been defended in the Revolution Pro Wrestling, Over the Top Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, and Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling promotions.

## History

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".
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. 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. On the AEW side, Pac, Miro, and Malakai Black 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. At Forbidden Door, Pac became the inaugural champion by submitting Connors.
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. Pac also defended the title at an event for Ireland's Over the Top Wrestling (OTT) on July 22. Since then, the title has been defended in NJPW, Mexico's Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), and Canada's Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling (MLP).
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. 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, 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.
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. After Ospreay regained the title at All In London the following month on August 25, the title was restored as the International Championship.

### Inaugural All-Atlantic Championship tournament

| Preliminary Qualifiers New Japan Road (June 20, 2022) | Preliminary Qualifiers New Japan Road (June 20, 2022) | Preliminary Qualifiers New Japan Road (June 20, 2022) | Qualifiers Dynamite (June 8, 15, and 22, 2022) New Japan Road (June 21, 2022) | Qualifiers Dynamite (June 8, 15, and 22, 2022) New Japan Road (June 21, 2022) | Qualifiers Dynamite (June 8, 15, and 22, 2022) New Japan Road (June 21, 2022) | Final Forbidden Door (June 26, 2022) | Final Forbidden Door (June 26, 2022) | Final Forbidden Door (June 26, 2022) |
| | | | Buddy Matthews | Buddy Matthews | 10:32 | | | |
| | | | Pac | Pac | Pin | | | |
| | | | Ethan Page | Ethan Page | 9:25 | | | |
| | | | Ethan Page | Ethan Page | 9:25 | Pac | Pac | Sub |
| | | | Miro | Miro | Sub | Pac | Pac | Sub |
| | | | Miro | Miro | Sub | Miro | Miro | — |
| | | | | | | Malakai Black | Malakai Black | — |
| | | | Penta Oscuro | Penta Oscuro | 9:49 | Malakai Black | Malakai Black | — |
| | | | Penta Oscuro | Penta Oscuro | 9:49 | Clark Connors | Clark Connors | 15:05 |
| | | | Malakai Black | Malakai Black | Pin | Clark Connors | Clark Connors | 15:05 |
| Tomoaki Honma | Tomoaki Honma | 11:29 | Malakai Black | Malakai Black | Pin | | | |
| Clark Connors | Clark Connors | Pin | | | | | | |
| Clark Connors | Clark Connors | Pin | Clark Connors | Clark Connors | 13:21 | | | |
| | | | Tomohiro Ishii | Tomohiro Ishii | Pin | | | |
| Tomohiro Ishii | Tomohiro Ishii | Pin | Tomohiro Ishii | Tomohiro Ishii | Pin | | | |
| Yoshinobu Kanemaru | Yoshinobu Kanemaru | 19:01 | | | | | | |
* ↑ Connors replaced Ishii who was not medically cleared.

## Belt design

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. 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.

### Custom design

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. After MJF lost the title back to Ospreay at All In on August 25, the title was restored as the International Championship.

## Reigns

As of March 13, 2025, there have been 11 reigns between nine 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 Kenny Omega, who is in his first reign. He defeated Konosuke Takeshita at Revolution on March 9, 2025, in Los Angeles, California.
| 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 | Championship change | Championship change | Reign statistics | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. |
| No. | Champion | Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Notes | Ref. |
| | All Elite Wrestling (AEW) | All Elite Wrestling (AEW) | All Elite Wrestling (AEW) | All Elite Wrestling (AEW) | All Elite Wrestling (AEW) | All Elite Wrestling (AEW) | All Elite Wrestling (AEW) | All Elite Wrestling (AEW) |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 3 | Jon Moxley | September 3, 2023 | All Out | Chicago, IL | 1 | 17 | | |
| 4 | Rey Fenix | September 20, 2023 | Dynamite: Grand Slam | Flushing, Queens, NY | 1 | 20 | | |
| 5 | Orange Cassidy | October 10, 2023 | Title Tuesday | Independence, MO | 2 | 145 | | |
| 6 | Roderick Strong | March 3, 2024 | Revolution | Greensboro, NC | 1 | 84 | | |
| 7 | Will Ospreay | May 26, 2024 | Double or Nothing | Paradise, NV | 1 | 52 | | |
| 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. | |
| 9 | Will Ospreay | August 25, 2024 | All In | London, England | 2 | 48 | | |
| 10 | Konosuke Takeshita | October 12, 2024 | WrestleDream | Tacoma, WA | 1 | 148 | This was a three-way match, also involving Ricochet. | |
| 11 | Kenny Omega | March 9, 2025 | Revolution | Los Angeles, CA | 1 | 4+ | | |

## Combined reigns

As of March 13, 2025.
| † | Indicates the current champion |
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns | Combined days |
| 1 | Orange Cassidy | 2 | 471 |
| 2 | Konosuke Takeshita | 1 | 148 |
| 3 | Pac | 1 | 108 |
| 4 | Will Ospreay | 2 | 100 |
| 5 | Roderick Strong | 1 | 84 |
| 6 | MJF | 1 | 39 |
| 7 | Rey Fenix | 1 | 20 |
| 8 | Jon Moxley | 1 | 17 |
| 9 | Kenny Omega † | 1 | 4+ |