Update On Hikaru Shida's AEW Status (AEW News)
Hikaru Shida provides an update on her current AEW status.
Having not competed for AEW since December, there's now an update on Hikaru Shida's status with the promotion.
Speaking on a live stream on her YouTube channel, Shida revealed that she's currently in Japan until a visa issue is resolved.
When a viewer commented about wanting to see the former three-time AEW Women's Champion back in action for Tony Khan's promotion, Hikaru said she hopes to be back wrestling for AEW soon, but that getting a visa is hard these days. Shida noted how "AEW has so many wrestlers, so the lawyer has to do so many things".
On a positive note, the 37-year-old said how she's enjoying spending time in Japan and getting to see people, highlighting how her previous returns to Japan tend to only be for a couple of days. Shida also thanked those fans who are looking forward to her eventual AEW comeback and to those who've supported her throughout her career so far.
Hikaru Shida In AEW
As touched upon previously, Hikaru Shida's most recent AEW outing came in a loss to Kris Statlander on a November episode of Dynamite. While she's not been able to compete for AEW so far this year, Shida has worked seven matches in Japan in 2025, the most recent of which was for Gokigen Pro at the end of last month.
Hikaru's history with AEW goes all the way back to the company's early days, with her debuting at Double or Nothing 2019, which was the promotion's very first event. There, Shida teamed with Riho and Ryo Mizunami in a win over Aja Kong, Emi Sakura, and Yuka Sakazaki. By May 2020, she'd defeated Nyla Rose to become the third-ever AEW Women's Champion. While that title reign was a mammoth 372 days, Hikaru's two further runs atop the company's women's division were far shorter ones, with 25-day and 39-day stints in the second half of 2023.
Having at one point been a mainstay of AEW pay-per-views, Hikaru Shida has only wrestled on one PPV - a loss to Mercedes Moné at last year's All Out - in the 19 months since her third AEW Women's Title reign came to an end at Full Gear 2023, courtesy of Toni Storm. Likewise, Shida has wrestled just three Dynamite matches after that Full Gear loss, and all three - against Britt Baker, Mercedes, and Statlander - have ended in defeat.
There's no doubt, Shida is one of the most talented women on the AEW roster. So, here's hoping she can once again find herself fully in the mix as and when her ongoing visa issues have been resolved.