Today makes one full year that Hikaru Shida has been AEW Women’s World Champion. She won the title on May 23, 2020 at Double or Nothing when she defeated Nyla Rose. She is currently one of only three women who have held the title since its debut in October 2019.
Over the course of the past 365-days, Shida has defended her title a total of eight times against eight different women.
These opponents included a rematch against Rose, Penelope Ford, Thunder Rosa, Big Swole, Anna Jay, Abadon, Ryo Mizunami, and most recently Tay Conti.
Mizunami was her challenger after winning a women’s tournament which took place between both Japan and the United States. Shida traveled to Japan to help execute the tournament and helped produce it. Through these competitors there is one woman that Shida has not clashed with over the title. That woman is her next challenger – Dr. Britt Baker.
The champion will be facing Baker with the gold on the line at this year’s Double or Nothing that takes place next Sunday on May 30. Banking on the idea that wins mean something in AEW, Baker has focused on climbing up the women’s rankings and has been sitting solid at the top spot for the past few weeks. This will be Shida’s toughest challenge to date and many are speculating for Baker to finally get the gold and become the face of the division.
Dynamite will air on Friday this week and they will be celebrating Shida’s one year anniversary as champion.
What are your thoughts on Shida’s reign? What matches has she had that have stood out? Leave your thoughts below.
