Hikaru Shida "Misses" Wrestling On AEW Dynamite

The former AEW Women's Champion hasn't appeared on Dynamite since May.

by Andy H Murray
Hikaru Shida
AEW

AEW fans who don't keep up with Dark and Dark: Elevation could be forgiven for wondering where Hikaru Shida has gone since dropping the Women's World Championship at Double Or Nothing 2021.

The Japanese wrestler hasn't appeared on Dynamite since the 13 May episode, on which she defeated Rebel ahead of her DON match with Britt Baker. Three full months have now passed since she was last featured on TNT.

When a fan brought this up on Twitter on Monday, mentioning that they missed watching Shida wrestle on Dynamite, Hikaru followed up with this:-

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The tone here is almost certainly intended to be light-hearted. Nonetheless, it's curious that Shida hasn't been used more often on Dynamite, given that she has been one of the women's division's most prominent figures since AEW's inception.

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Shida's 372 days as Women's World Champion make her the longest-reigning champion of any kind in AEW history. Baker drew the curtain down on her run on top at Double Or Nothing and Shida has worked exclusively on the Youtube shows ever since then, racking up an eight-match winning streak on Monday and Tuesday nights.

Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.