Kenny Omega Wins AEW International Title, Makes History At Revolution 2025 (AEW News)

Kenny Omega becomes International Champion at AEW Revolution.

AEW Revolution 2025 Kenny Omega International Champion
AEW

With AEW Revolution 2025 now in the books, not only is Kenny Omega your new International Champion, but he's also now got himself a certain spot in the AEW history books.

Last night saw Omega defeat Konosuke Takeshita in an excellent back-and-forth bout to dethrone Takeshita as the AEW International Champion. In a match full of big moves and finishers, it was a cruxific pin that did the job for Kenny, bringing an end to Takeshita's International Title reign at 148 days.

As for the history made here by the Best Bout Machine, this International Championship win means that Kenny Omega is classed as the first Grand Slam Champion in AEW history. Of course, this follows the Canadian's run as the AEW World Champion, as one half of the AEW Tag Team Champions with 'Hangman' Adam Page, and as one third of the AEW Trios Champions with the Young Bucks.

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It may have been a somewhat muddled road to get here - Takeshita, as the International Champion, having to earn a shot at the challenger - but the match delivered as many expected it would. And with that, Kenny Omega is seemingly on a collision course with AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada later in the year.

As for Omega vs. Okada, these two long-time rivals have been rumoured for a winner-takes-all unification match at AEW All In in July. Those rumblings suggest that AEW is looking to merge the International and Continental belts, and in Kenny and Kazuchika, who better to have in the ring to do just that?

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Konosuke Takeshita AEW International Champion
AEW

The International Championship

At 148 days, Konosuke Takeshita's run as AEW International Champion is the second-longest in the belt's near-three-year history.

Takeshita beat Will Ospreay at WrestleDream last October to win the International Title in a triple threat also featuring Ricochet. In the five months since then, the hugely talented Japanese star successfully defended that championship eight times - fending off Josh Alexander, TJP, Ricochet, Powerhouse Hobbs, Shingo Takagi, Tomohiro Ishii, Katsuyori Shibata, and Orange Cassidy - before dropping the gold to Kenny Omega last night.

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As for the longest reign as the AEW International Champion, Orange Cassidy holds that record with an impressive 326-day reign from October 2022 to September 2023. Freshly Squeezed defeated inaugural champ PAC back when the belt was called the AEW All-Atlantic Championship, and OC held the title through the 'International' name change before eventually losing it to Jon Moxley at All Out 2023.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.