Backstage Details On AEW's Decision To Unify International And Continental Titles

This week on "AEW Dynamite," it was announced that the AEW International Championship and AEW Continental Championship would be unified at All In Texas. A backstage report has offered more details on the reason behind the match between Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada, and the potential name of the newly-unified title.

As per "Fightful Select," the match between Okada and Omega — two stars with a celebrated history — had been in the works for several months, dating back to as early as December 2024. AEW had reportedly planned to have this match at "All In" even before Omega returned from diverticulitis, with the promotion having prepared for it for nearly a year. The report claims that the announcement of the match helped push 1400 ticket sales last week for the All In Texas pay-per-view.

The report further revealed that AEW had considered the name "Intercontinental" to name the new title. The new championship will be positioned as a top title, unlike the International and Continental Championships, which were generally viewed as mid-card titles.

Omega won the International Championship in March by defeating Konosuke Takeshita at the Revolution pay-per-view, while the Continental Championship was won by Okada in March 2024 when he defeated Eddie Kingston. The International Championship was introduced in 2022 as the All-Atlantic Championship before being renamed a year later, and was also briefly referred to as the American Championship when MJF held the title. Meanwhile, the Continental Championship was introduced in 2023 following the grueling Continental Classic tournament, which, according to the "Fightful" report, will remain a part of AEW programming.

The match between Okada and Omega will be the first time that the two stars will face each other since Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall in 2018, where the latter got the better of his Japanese opponent, winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in the process.