Having not competed for AEW since January, could Hikaru Shida be set for a return to AEW programming? Possibly.
As per Fightful Select, creative discussions have taken place for Shida's AEW return. There's no further details at this time on what's been pitched for the three-time AEW Women's Champion, but it's at least good to hear that the 35-year-old could be on the cusp of a return to the AEW fold.
Shida has only wrestled twice for AEW in 2024 so far - both on Rampage - with the most recent of these contests being a 10 January win over Queen Aminata. In the time since then, the hugely talented Japanese star has wrestled twice for Ring of Honor, picking up a win over Rachael Ellering before suffering a loss to ROH Women's Champion Athena.
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It's worth noting, there's been no reports of any sort of injury issues keeping Hikaru Shida on the AEW sidelines, and it seems merely a case of the company keeping her benched due to zero creative plans for Hikaru over the past nearly five months.
Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics.
As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic.
Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.
