Hikaru Shida Gets First Challenger For AEW Women’s Title

Hikaru Shida already knows her first challenger for the AEW Women’s Championship.

The 200th edition of AEW Dynamite was headlined by Hikaru Shida challenging Toni Storm for the AEW Women’s Championship in a week where the women of the company were forced to show solidarity in the wake of accusations thrown against them.

In the end, it was Shida standing tall as she managed to overcome The Outcasts’ antics and some spray paint before rolling Storm up to re-capture the AEW Women’s Championship.

But it’s tough at the top in wrestling and there is no peace for a champion. In April 2020 during the darkest days of the pandemic, Anna Jay made her AEW debut against Shida, and now over three years later, Jay will be Hikaru Shida’s first challenger on Dynamite in Columbus, Ohio.

The #JAS’s Anna Jay's first match in #AEW was against Hikaru Shida, and three years later she is challenging the NEW #AEW Women’s World Champion for her title NEXT WEDNESDAY on #AEWDynamite LIVE at 8/ 7c on TBS!

Watch #AEWCollision LIVE on TNT!@annajay___ | @shidahikarupic.twitter.com/YBXcTo8VMM

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) August 6, 2023

When did Hikaru Shida last hold the title?

Hikaru Shida is the longest-reigning AEW Women’s Champion in the company’s history, holding the belt for 372 days in her first run with the title.

Shida won the championship from Nyla Rose at Double Or Nothing in 2020 before losing it to Britt Baker at the same event just over a year later. As a result of the timing, it meant Hikaru Shida held the championship during the pandemic when crowds were non-existent and then even still very limited by the time she lost the gold.

Now, Shida will only have to hold the title for three more weeks when she’ll get to make up for that lost time in one night as she will head into the All In at Wembley Stadium as the AEW Women’s Champion.