While it needs to be protected to say that AEW Women’s World Champion Thekla is moving on from former champ Kris Statlander after three definitive wins over her, one including when she initially won the title, we’re seeing quite a number of feuds, like Toni Storm and Marina Shafir, in addition to Darby Allin and Gabe Kidd, proceed on to this week’s “Dynamite.” While Statlander thoroughly could say she and Thekla were tied one fall to at least one during their two-out-of-three falls match, as Thekla cheated and held the ropes to get her first fall, we hope that AEW goes to go in a special direction for the ladies’s top title.
Nevertheless, that different direction is a difficult one to determine, and we likely won’t see any recent challengers emerge for Thekla on “Dynamite,” and we probably won’t even hear from the champion until “AEW Collision” on Saturday. The important issue, nevertheless, is that lots of the women on AEW’s roster are currently tied up within the tag team division. Alex Windsor and Jamie Hayter are actually the Brawling Birds and appear set for a title victory at All In, despite that event not being until August. Megan Bayne and Lena Kross won the AEW Women’s Tag Team Championships at Revolution, so it doesn’t appear like Bayne is stepping up anytime soon.
AEW is currently seeing quite a number of exciting returns, and it’s possible that might proceed. While Britt Baker has confirmed it’s “lower than her” when she’s back, likely signaling that a return is not imminent, Hikaru Shida has been back in the USA following visa issues, and was even backstage at “Dynamite” at one point, as revealed in a January update on her status. Queen Aminata is one other possible challenger and AEW return, though she’s still recovering from a neck injury and hasn’t provided a timeline on when she’s getting back within the ring. After all, there’s Mercedes Mone, who’s currently on a hiatus from AEW as she continues to drop titles all over the world, but it surely doesn’t seem likely that she’ll be back until no less than Dynasty next month, as AEW would likely want her showing up at a giant event.
For now, Thekla’s next major challenger is unknown, but she could fight off challengers like Mina Shirakawa, Harley Cameron, Hyan, Maya World, and others on “Collision” until Mone’s return, and even possibly when Storm is freed from her feud with Shafir in the approaching weeks. As for Statlander, things are much more unclear, though there may be at all times her feud with frenemy Willow Nightingale and the TBS Championship to return to, if AEW wants her in contention for any title in any respect without delay.
Written by Daisy Ruth