Posted By James Walsh on 10/04/25


A former world champion in All Elite Wrestling has signed on the dotted line of a new contract.

And their AEW return is coming soon.

Former AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida has officially re-signed with All Elite Wrestling. The former multi-time AEW Women’s World Champion revealed the news during a YouTube livestream on Friday.

Shida explained that she had been receiving questions from fans about whether she was retiring following her involvement in a stage play in Japan last month, where she portrayed a wrestler preparing to hang up her boots.

Shida described the experience, noting how demanding the performance was.

“I was the main character,” Shida said during the aforementioned YouTube livestream. “The show was almost two hours. I think only five minutes without me during whole show,” she said. “It was the hardest stage play for me, whole ten years but it was really great.”

Performing under the name Tsuruhime, Shida has been part of MAKAI productions since 2014. The company is known for blending elements of pro wrestling with stage drama and musical theatre to create live productions.

Reflecting further on her most recent role with MAKAI, Shida added, “It’s about a wrestler. The title was ‘Retirement’ and this is the story of the wrestler (who) just announced her retirement, and that’s me. Actually, after the show many fans asked me like ‘Are you retiring or is it just a play?’ And of course it’s just a play. I’m not retiring, I just renewed my Visa and contract so I’m not retiring. But fans asked me so that means my acting was too good.”

Shida also took to social media earlier this week to update fans on her AEW status, revealing in a post on X on October 2 that included a photo of herself at an airport along with a caption indicating she was preparing to travel back to the United States.

“Soaking in the hot springs at the airport, eating curry in the lounge, and fully prepared,” Shida wrote. “See you later, Japan. I’m ready to go back to the U.S.”

Hikaru Shida’s most recent match inside an AEW ring came on the November 20, 2024 edition of AEW Dynamite, where she went one-on-one with Kris Statlander in a losing effort.

We will keep you posted here at WrestlingHeadlines.com as updates regarding Hikaru Shida’s AEW recent continues to surface. Watch the complete Hikaru Shida YouTube livestream referenced above via the media player embedded below.