Hikaru Shida won the AEW Women’s World Championship back on May 23, 2020 after defeating Nyla Rose in a No DQ match at Double or Nothing. Now, here we are, a whole year later and Hikaru Shida has only just lost the championship at the hands of her toughest challenge yet in Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D.
After 382 days as champion and 8 title defenses, Shida’s reign has finally arrived at an end, with Britt Baker having succeeded at Double or Nothing 2021. Therefore, let’s review some of her best matches as champion and remember the impact she’s had in AEW and pro wrestling over the past year.
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Nyla Rose (Double or Nothing 2020)
After being undefeated in 2020 for around 3 months with a record of 12-0, which includes three fatal four ways, Hikaru Shida was given her first one-on-one championship match up to that point against then-reigning and defending champion, the “Native Beast”, Nyla Rose.
The match ended up having a No DQ stipulation added, which enhanced the match – as it let both competitors go all out for the championship and not pull any punches. This was particularly helpful for Shida, as she hadn’t fully connected with the audience at this point, which was made difficult with having to perform in the first AEW PPV event with no live audience.
At the end, the match did not disappoint and it made for the perfect opportunity for Shida to win her first AEW title. It created some buzz online, to the point where fans were calling it the best women’s match AEW had put on up to that point.
Thunder Rosa (All Out 2020)
Just three months into her title reign, Shida returned to be the talk of the wrestling business when NWA women’s champion, Thunder Rosa, made her shocking debut by challenging Shida to an AEW title match at All Out – a challenge which would be accepted.
At the time of the match, we did not know much about the NWA partnership or if Rosa would stay in AEW for long, which made the match even more exciting in its unpredictability.
Although the match had the unpredictability factor, it didn’t really need it; Shida and Rosa put on a 17 minute, instant classic and arguably the best match of the show, thus solidifying Hikaru Shida as the top woman in All Elite Wrestling.
This match gave Shida’s reign the highest level of legitimacy so far and put her in a league of not only being an exceptionally talented, Japanese wrestler, but also capable of telling compelling stories as the champion even without the luxury of promos and the bigger luxury of attending fans.
Ryo Mizunami (Revolution 2021)
Due to the success of the previous male eliminator tournament and the need to work around travel restrictions at the time, AEW held a women’s eliminator tournament for a chance at Hikaru Shida’s world title.
The tournament was won by Japanese wrestling veteran, Ryo Mizunami. The match took place at Revolution and as most people expected it once again highlighted the incredible talent that Shida is – without taking anything away from Mizunami, who proved to be a worthy rival and made Shida look like a star.
Just like her match against Nyla Rosa, this match gave Hikaru Shida the biggest character development up to that point. Going to war and walking away victorious against one of Japan’s top female wrestlers solidified Shida.
Conclusion
In case it wasn’t yet clear, Hikaru Shida’s reign was nothing short of excellent, delivering top quality matches every time she was called upon and straightening the ship of what was a pretty lackluster women’s division just over a year ago.
With Shida’s historic and symbolic reign having now been brought to an end at the hands of Britt Baker, the past year should be remembered and appreciated for all the work Hikaru put in. She made a name for herself in some of wrestling’s hardest and most peculiar conditions.
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