While it should be safe 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 few feuds, like Toni Storm and Marina Shafir, as well as Darby Allin and Gabe Kidd, continue on to this week’s “Dynamite.” While Statlander very well could say she and Thekla were tied one fall to 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 is going to go in a different direction for the women’s top title.
However, that different direction is a difficult one to figure out, and we likely won’t see any new challengers emerge for Thekla on “Dynamite,” and we probably won’t even hear from the champion until “AEW Collision” on Saturday. The main issue, however, is that many of the women on AEW’s roster are currently tied up in the tag team division. Alex Windsor and Jamie Hayter are now the Brawling Birds and seem 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 look like Bayne is stepping up anytime soon.
AEW is currently seeing quite a few exciting returns, and it’s possible that could continue. While Britt Baker has confirmed it’s “not up to her” when she’s back, likely signaling that a return isn’t imminent, Hikaru Shida has been back in the United States following visa issues, and was even backstage at “Dynamite” at one point, as revealed in a January update on her status. Queen Aminata is another 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 in the ring. Of course, there’s Mercedes Mone, who is currently on a hiatus from AEW as she continues to drop titles around the world, but it doesn’t seem likely that she’ll be back until at least Dynasty next month, as AEW would likely want her showing up at a big 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, or even possibly when Storm is free of her feud with Shafir in the coming weeks. As for Statlander, things are even more unclear, though there is always her feud with frenemy Willow Nightingale and the TBS Championship to go back to, if AEW wants her in contention for any title at all right now.
Written by Daisy Ruth
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