Pac Becomes 1st-Ever AEW All-Atlantic Champion at Forbidden Door
June 27, 2022
Pac defeated Clark Connors, Miro, and Malakai Black in a four-way match at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door on Sunday to become the inaugural AEW All-Atlantic champion.
Black was attempting to lock a cross armbreaker on Connors when Pac delivered a 450 splash to him. Pac quickly moved to a weakened Connors and applied the Brutalizer for the win.
All Elite Wrestling @AEW450 splash by <a href="https://twitter.com/BASTARDPAC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BASTARDPAC</a>! Order the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ForbiddenDoor?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ForbiddenDoor</a> PPV right now! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEWxNJPW?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEWxNJPW</a> <a href="https://t.co/UGJ5kRt71l">pic.twitter.com/UGJ5kRt71l</a>
AEW announced the creation of the All-Atlantic Championship a few weeks ago and set up a modified tournament featuring stars from several different countries.
Three of the qualifying matches took place on AEW programming in recent weeks, while four New Japan Pro-Wrestling stars competed in a mini-tournament of their own for a spot in the four-way match.
On the AEW side, England's Pac defeated Australia's Buddy Matthews, Bulgaria's Miro beat Canada's Ethan Page, and the Netherlands' Black took down Mexico's Penta Oscuro.
Meanwhile, Tomohiro Ishii, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Clark Connors and Tomoaki Honma were all given a chance to take the final position in the All-Atlantic title match via a four-man tourney.
Ishii defeated Kanemaru in the first round and then outlasted Connors in the final, but because of an injury suffered by Ishii in that final bout, Connors was substituted into the All-Atlantic Championship match as his replacement.
Given the talent involved, the All-Atlantic Championship four-way was considered by many fans as a sleeper to take match of the night honors at Forbidden Door.
It may not have had the same cachet as Jon Moxley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the interim AEW World Championship or Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada vs. "Hangman" Adam Page vs. Adam Cole for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, but Miro, Pac, Black and Connors are regarded as four of the best workers in the world all the same.
Despite having been a member of the AEW roster since the beginning, Pac had never tasted championship gold until this huge victory at Forbidden Door.
Pac was finally rewarded for the excellent work he has done in AEW over the past few years, and holding the All-Atlantic Championship should lend even more credibility to Death Triangle as a whole.
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