Hikaru Shida isn’t leaving AEW anytime soon.
Shida has confirmed that she’s back in the States and more importantly, the AEW star isn’t leaving the promotion anytime soon.
“I just renewed my Visa and contract, so I’m not retiring. But fans asked me so that means my acting was too good.”
The former AEW Women’s World Champion hasn’t been seen on AEW television since November 2024. Shida was an important figure for the AEW women’s division in 2021 - 2023; the 37-year-old got to showcase why she’s considered one of the best in the world thanks to her incredible matches against Thunder Rosa, Toni Storm, and Saraya.
However, many had naturally assumed that Shida may have quietly retired following her random disappearance from AEW television. Then those concerns turned loud when Shida said that she was playing a retired wrestler. However, the AEW star cleared the air by noting that she was working on a stage production about a retiring female wrestler.
“It’s about a wrestler [the stageplay]. The title was ‘Retirement’ and this is the story of the wrestler [who] just announced her retirement, and that’s me.”
“Actually, after the show many fans asked me like ‘Are you retiring or is it just a play?’ And of course it’s just a play. I’m not retiring.”
The AEW star has actually been quite busy despite not appearing on AEW television for nearly a year. Shida was mainly wrestling in Japan for various promotions while also getting into the entertainment business. The former AEW Women’s World Champion is also on Youtube frequently.
At the moment, there’s no word on when Shida will return to AEW television. A big reason that she's been off television is due to Visa issues getting back her into the country. Now that she’s back in the U.S., she’s able to return to Dynamite or Collision very soon.
Hikaru Shida has been with AEW from the beginning. She fought on the company’s Double or Nothing 2019 pay-per-view and competed on Dynamite throughout the year following the promotion’s official start in October.
Shida won her first AEW Women’s World title at Double or Nothing 2020, beating Nyla Rose for the belt. She kept the title for 372 days before dropping it to Dr. Britt Baker. She’s won the belt two more times, but those reigns didn’t last more than 40 days.
Who do you want Hikaru Shida to face when she returns?