Shida looks back at her AEW Title reign and continuing to compete for various promotions in Japan.
In May of 2020, AEW presented their Double or Nothing pay-per-view. This event was scheduled to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the promotion to hold all of their shows at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida until May 2021.
At that Double or Nothing, Hikaru Shida’s year-long reign as AEW Women’s World Champion began. Shida reflected on that reign during an interview with Sports Graphic Number.
She struggled without an audience to feed off of but once AEW began filling venues again, Shida knew that her work paid off because the crowd reacted accordingly.
I struggled with no audience and there was a lot of pressure on me. But I knew that what I had done had reached the other side of the camera, and it all paid off. It all paid off.
On top of the wrestling that Shida continues to do in Japan, she participates in ‘MAKAI’, which is an entertainment show that is held once a month. Shida said her contract with AEW has always been based on the premise that she’ll be able to participate.
My contract with AEW was based on the premise that I would continue to perform in MAKAI. I believe that I am Hikaru Shida only when I do both wrestling and acting.
Shida wrestles for Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, Ice Ribbon and Pro Wrestling WAVE. As of this writing, she is the Regina Di WAVE Champion and one-half of Ice Ribbon’s International Ribbon Tag Team Champions. She expressed that when she comes to these promotions, she does not just want to be another big guest coming through.
As long as I was going to compete, I didn’t want to end up being just a big-name guest. That is not Hikaru Shida.
On this upcoming Tuesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite, Shida is getting a shot at Toni Storm’s Interim Women’s World Championship. Shida last competed for the belt at All Out which is where Toni won the title.
