Bad news from tonight's episode of AEW Dynamite as Willow Nightingale appeared on a backstage segment with an unfortunate announcement.
Willow spoke about how proud she has been of all her accomplishments in All Elite Wrestling, including her current title reign with the AEW TBS Championship and how she had been very excited to be in New York to wrestle Alex Windsor at Double or Nothing this Sunday and go on to win the 2026 Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, but she's suffered a shoulder injury that will ruin all of that.
Not only will she not be cleared to compete and has to be pulled from the pay-per-view, but the tournament as a whole as well, and she will also have to vacate the TBS Championship title, as she'll be out of action for quite a while.
As it stands right now, the previously scheduled match she had against Alex Windsor that would have taken place this Sunday at AEW Double or Nothing has been changed. Windsor's opponent is listed as being a "Wild Card" competitor, and replacing it on the pay-per-view is the Athena vs. Mina Shirakawa match instead.
Nothing has been specified regarding the championship situation, either. As she has relinquished the title, this will not be a situation where an interim champion is crowned as has happened several times in the past. Instead, this will eventually be settled for who the lineal champion will be, with no indication over who will be competing for the title and in what capacity or when that new champion will be crowned.
Reaction & Predictions
Obviously, this is a disappointing thing to hear. Willow Nightingale is one of AEW's best and arguably the standout in the women's division, and someone who only continues to get better and better. Hopefully, she'll be back soon enough and won't lose a step.
Replacing her in the Owen Hart Cup will be interesting as it's been difficult to figure out where that tournament will go. The wild card taking her spot in the bracket could really change up the dynamic, even though I doubt that will be the case. Maybe it'll be Kris Statlander or Hikaru Shida or someone on the high end of the totem pole, or it might just be someone like Julia Hart who can be sacrificed to Alex Windsor instead.
As far as the TBS Championship is concerned, I'm curious why we haven't seen anything with Kamille since she came back. If they care about her, this could be a good spot for her. Shida or Statlander could step in, as mentioned, or this could be a good time to put a title on someone like Queen Aminata or Mina Shirakawa. Maybe Thunder Rosa?