10 Biggest Missed Opportunities From AEW So Far

2. Hikaru Shida Not Having A Proper Storyline As Champion

Hopefully they don’t repeat the same mistakes here. Hikaru Shida is amongst the best wrestlers currently active in AEW in terms of pure match quality, with her scintillating offence and incredible intensity making her a must-see worker every time she steps in the ring. Shida’s a naturally engaging babyface, the kind of performer that encourages audiences to stick with AEW every week, and her beautiful victory over Nyla Rose was a euphoric moment.

But like with Riho, she hasn’t been backed fully as champion. AEW is widely celebrated as the promotion that focuses on storytelling over everything, setting up angles months in advance and always advancing narratives every week on television. Yet, the feud for their Women’s Champion heading into All Out is entirely built around Thunder Rosa just cutting a promo wanting a title match, and that’s all of the groundwork that the feud’s received up to this point.

It is insulting how little energy the division is getting, and it is a huge missed opportunity that in her months so far as champion, she has been booked to fight jobbers and given no narrative progression whatsoever. Shida is far too talented to be considered an afterthought.