Mina Shirakawa Leaving Stardom, Likely Heading To AEW (AEW News)
Mina Shirakawa expected to join AEW imminently.
Having impressed in fleeting appearances for AEW, it looks like Mina Shirakawa is gearing up to make Tony Khan's promotion her new permanent home.
As per Fightful Select, Tokyo Sports is reporting that Mina is in the process of wrapping up her current STARDOM run and is expected to head to the United States. Fightful's sources confirmed that the 37-year-old is indeed on her way to AEW, with a press conference planned for later in the week. The outlet was told that this move has been planned for a while, with Shirakawa previously telling Fightful how she was intending to move to America at some point in the future.
Having made her in-ring debut in 2018, 2020 saw Mina Shirakawa make her first appearance for STARDOM. Battling a who's who of the promotion in the years since, the Venus' success with STARDOM includes runs as the Future of STARDOM Champion, the Wonder of STARDOM Champion, two stints as one-third of the Artist of STARDOM Champions, and winning the Goddess of STARDOM Championship with a certain Mariah May.
On that front, Mariah May's own AEW future has been in the news this week, with the former AEW Women's Champion's current AEW deal due to expire this year. However, it is believed that AEW will have an extension that they can and will trigger to keep the Glamour #AllElite for the foreseeable future.
Mina Shirakawa In AEW So Far
The first AEW fans saw of Mina Shirakawa was on an April 2024 episode of Dynamite, where she came to the rescue of Mariah May to save her old tag partner from an Anna Jay beatdown. Mina would make her AEW in-ring debut later that month, defeating Jay on the company's Wednesday night flagship.
Shortly after that, Shirakawa was inserted into the Mariah May and Toni Storm dynamic, which saw her get a shot at Timeless Toni's AEW Women's Championship at last year's Forbidden Door. While Mina was unsuccessful that time out, she'd later get another crack at the AEW Women's Title, facing Mariah at Winter is Coming in December following May turning on her former partner, much like Mariah had previously turned on Toni. Again though, Shirakawa came up short in her quest to win the AEW Women's Championship.
Mina Shirakawa has technically wrestled one more match under the AEW banner since then, with that being at the co-promoted Wrestle Dynasty - which featured AEW, ROH, CMLL, and NJPW talent - event in January. There, Shirakawa lost the RevPro Undisputed British Women's Championship to AEW TBS Champion Mercedes Moné in a winner-takes-all match with both of those titles on the line.