The AEW International Championship has quickly become of the premier title belts in All Elite Wrestling.
Starting off as a slight joke, being called the AEW All-Atlantic title, it quickly gathered steam as the “workhorse” title in the promotion – drawing comparisons to WWE’s Intercontinental Championship.
The belt was established in 2022, being put up in a tournament consisting of AEW and NJPW wrestlers.
This culminated in a four-way match to crown the first AEW All-Atlantic Championship at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2022.
So far, 3 men have held the AEW International Championship. In this article, we will rank them from worst to best, looking at the title defenses, match quality and impact on AEW to decide where they should rank.
Jon Moxley
Due to his reign still being ongoing, it would be hard to rank Jon Moxley’s AEW International Championship run as highly as others.
He defeated Orange Cassidy in the main event of All Out 2023 to win the belt, adding his first non-World Championship title victory in AEW.
On the following Dynamite, Moxley defended the belt against AR Fox, kicking off what will hopefully be another great title run for the Blackpool Combat Club leader.
- Title Defenses – 1+
- Days Held – 4+ Days
- Best Moment – Becoming the first ever champion at Forbidden Door
PAC
- Title Defenses – 6
- Days Held – 108
- Best Moment – Becoming the first ever champion at Forbidden Door
PAC became the first man to hold the AEW International Championship in AEW, although under a different name.
At first, the belt was named the AEW All-Atlantic Championship (although this was changed later on during Orange Cassidy’s reign).
PAC won the title at Forbidden Door 2022, submitting Clark Connors in a match that also included Miro and Malakai Black.
The Englishman defended the title six times, but not always in AEW. He took the title International, defending it in indie promotions like Rev Pro and OTT. This helped differentiate the belt from the TNT Championship.
While it wasn’t the best AEW International title run ever, PAC helped to establish the belt as a prize to be desired, before dropping it to Orange Cassidy some months later.
Orange Cassidy
- Title Defenses – 31 (record for most title defenses in AEW history)
- Days Held – 326 (longest AEW International Championship reign in history)
- Best Moment – Wrestling his first pay per view main event at All Out 2023.
With 31 defenses under his belt before finally losing the belt, there is no doubt that Orange Cassidy is the best AEW International Champion of all time.
Freshly Squeezed won the belt from PAC in October 2022 – beating him for the first time in his career – in what was his first championship victory in his AEW career so far.
Orange Cassidy battled people from all over the roster, with a wide variety of opponents. He took on the likes of Big Bill, Katuyori Shibata, Wheeler Yuta and Trent Beretta, to name just a few of his unique and varied opponents.
Over the course of his reign, injuries began to mount. Cassidy began wearing a bandage on his hand, an injury nullifying his Orange Punch finisher. This forced him to use more creative means to win his matches, making every title defense unique.
Weekly title defenses took his toll, and soon he grew weaker and more tired. However, his spirit was resolute and allowed him to carry the belt for 326 days.
Orange Cassidy lost the AEW International Championship to Jon Moxley in the main event of All Out 2023. This was his first pay per view main event, and one of the best All Out matches of all time.