Hikaru Shida Is Reportedly Back In The U.S, AEW Return Could Be Near

On Yokota's show, Shida teamed up with STARDOM's Saori Anou and Wonder of STARDOM Champion Starlight Kid to take on Jaguar Yokota, Mayumi Ozaki, and World of STARDOM Champion Saya Kamitani.

This week, Shida posted a picture of herself holding her passport while seemingly preparing to travel overseas and earlier today, she posted another photo, this time being reunited with one of her cats.

With her visa issues presumably in the past, there is plenty of new terrain for the 3-time AEW Women's World Champion to cover upon returning to AEW. While they haven't been formally introduced on screen, the existence of AEW women's tag team championships has been confirmed, and AEW CEO/GM Tony Khan has confirmed that he plans to introduce them when more of the women's division is off the shelf from injuries and other issues.

At AEW All In Texas, Shida's longtime former tag partner in Japan, STARDOM's Syuri made her AEW debut in the women's Casino Gauntlet. Syuri is a former IWGP Women's World Champion and World of STARDOM Champion, the latter being a historic reign that led her to topping the PWI Women's 250 list at #1 in 2022. While they were a tag team, Shida and Syuri won gold together in Sendai Girls, OZ Academy, and REINA.

Syuri is currently on excursion away from STARDOM to heal from some nagging injuries and train overseas. She is expected to make more appearances for AEW/ROH once she recovers from her recent elbow surgery.

As for Shida, it's only a matter of time before she returns to AEW in some capacity. With several new women and alliances being added to the roster since her last appearance, the possibilities for her return are endless.