A championship designed to transcend borders and promote global wrestling alliances
In short: Unlike most wrestling titles tied to a single promotion, the AEW International Championship is built for travel. It is a secondary title designed to be defended in different companies worldwide, serving as a bridge between major wrestling organizations across the globe.
Established on June 8, 2022, the title was originally known as the AEW All-Atlantic Championship. While the name suggested a focus on the Atlantic Ocean, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) intended it to represent their global fanbase. The inaugural champion, Pac, won the title in a four-way match at the Forbidden Door event on June 26, following a series of qualifying matches involving wrestlers from both AEW and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).
The championship's identity has evolved through rebranding and even unofficial shifts. On March 15, 2023, the title became the AEW International Championship to celebrate AEW's partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery. In a notable moment of character-driven storytelling, champion MJF unofficially rebranded the title as the 'AEW American Championship' during his reign from July to August 2024, even using a custom belt featuring the United States instead of a globe.
This championship has been featured extensively across various promotions, including Japan's NJPW, Mexico's CMLL, Canada's Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling, Ireland's Over the Top Wrestling, and Britain's Revolution Pro Wrestling. It has also been part of a brief unification experiment. In 2025, the title was unified with the AEW Continental Championship to create the AEW Unified Championship, a status that lasted until Jon Moxley defeated Kazuchika Okada on December 27, 2025.
As of October 2026, the championship has seen 15 reigns held by 11 different champions. Kazuchika Okada currently holds the title, marking his second reign—a record tied with Pac, Will Ospreay, Konosuke Takeshita, and Orange Cassidy.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: AEW International Championship
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