A top AEW talent is reportedly back in the United States and was backstage at “AEW Dynamite” on Wednesday when the show was live from Orlando, Florida. According to Fightful Select, former AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida was present at the show.
According to the outlet, Shida had been working through 2025 to get visa issues squared away. She didn’t appear on AEW programming at all throughout the year. Shida wrestled occasionally in Japan, but had also been working through shoulder issues. Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp previously noted that her absence from Worlds End in 2024 “turned heads,” as she lives in the Orlando area.
She reportedly signed an extension with AEW back in October after renewing her visa at the beginning of the month. The star confirmed the news that she was en route back to the United States herself with a post on her X (formerly Twitter) account, alongside a smiling selfie. In July, she revealed she received a new Japanese passport that would allow her to travel internationally.
Shida’s most recent match in AEW came on a November 2024 “Dynamite” where she was defeated by Kris Statlander. She lost the TBS Championship to Mercedes Mone at AEW All Out the month prior. Shida last wrestled in November 2025 in a 10-woman tag match alongside Nagisa Nozaki, Aja Kong, and Chikayo Nagashima. She is a three-time AEW Women’s Champion, though her most recent run with the gold ended at Full Gear in November 2023 when she lost the title to Toni Storm.
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