Backstage News On Why AEW Rebranded The All-Atlantic Championship

In celebration of the release of DC Comics blockbuster "Shazam: Fury Of The Gods," AEW's fledgling All-Atlantic Championship has been "leveled up" to the AEW International Championship, a move that AEW had been planning for many months. According to Fightful Select, Warner Bros Discovery approached AEW for "something big" to cross-promote the upcoming "Shazam" sequel, with Khan reportedly being the one to come up with the idea of "leveling up" the All-Atlantic Title. Khan is said to have commissioned a new belt "months ago" in preparation for the announcement. Per Fightful, AEW prides themselves on making sure any cross-promotion with WBD is tied to something newsworthy.

The celebration of DC's followup to "Shazam" isn't the only reason for the change, as AEW reportedly saw an opportunity to not only cross-promote the film, but also have a newsworthy match scheduled for their March 15 debut in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, home of AEW stars Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho. Since the Winnipeg edition of "AEW Dynamite" was announced, Jericho has been promoting the show heavily, teasing the idea of teaming with Omega and even asking to have a street named after him.

The AEW All-Atlantic Championship was created in June 2022, with inaugural champion PAC being crowned at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door in a four-way match. Current champion Orange Cassidy won the title from PAC on the October 12 "Dynamite" in Toronto, Ontario and will defend the newly rechristened International Championship on the Winnipeg "Dynamite" against multi-time world champion Jeff Jarrett.