AEW Expected To Sign Thekla (AEW News)
After leaving STARDOM, Thekla is expected to sign with AEW.
With her STARDOM exit confirmed earlier this week, and amidst WWE and AEW interest, it appears that Tony Khan's promotion will be the eventual landing spot for Thekla.
As per Fightful Select, Thekla has departed STARDOM in order to head to the United States for the next chapter in her career. Those who the outlet has spoken to about this matter understand that the US move had been planned for a while, with WWE keeping their eye on her last year and AEW likewise having what was described as "heavy" interest at that point. Now, Fightful notes that, from sources within AEW, it's expected that Thekla is set to become #AllElite.
For those who may have missed it, Sunday's All-Star Grand Queendom saw Thekla fired by STARDOM President Taro Okada after she'd attacked him. While this firing was purely from a kayfabe sense, it was done as part of the 32-year-old Austrian's exit from the company.
Having made her in-ring debut in 2018, Thekla headed to Japan the very next year, initially competing for Ice Ribbon before appearing in STARDOM in 2021, where she was immediately aligned with Giulia and her Donna Del Mondo stable. During her four years with STARDOM, Thekla won the SWA World Championship and co-held both the Goddess of STARDOM Championship (with Momo Watanabe) and the Artist of STARDOM Championship (with Giulia and Mai Sakurai).
Thekla is the latest major name to depart STARDOM, following in the footsteps of, most notably, Giulia and Mina Shirikawa. Whereas Giulia is nowadays in WWE - having already won the NXT Women's Championship and now reportedly part of the official Raw roster - Mina is expected to sign with AEW, with her having already appeared semi-regularly for the promotion across the past year or so.