Hikaru Shida Thinks She Would Not Be In AEW If Not For One Person - Exclusive

Hikaru Shida captured her second AEW Women's World Championship during "AEW Dynamite 200" earlier this month. As a result, she will carry the gold into AEW All In London at Wembley Stadium to defend in a four-way bout.

Her big moment, though, may not have been possible without the help of two other AEW stars. During an exclusive interview with Wrestling Inc., Shida gave lots of credit to Kenny Omega and Dustin Rhodes for helping her reach this point.

"It's definitely Kenny and Dustin," Shida said. "Yeah, Kenny always trust Japanese joshi wrestlings. And, yeah, Kenny is not here? I think I'm not here and Japanese joshi wrestling is not in AEW. And also he can speak Japanese too, so he helps me a lot in language too. And Dustin, he always cheer me up and he always trained female wrestlers and I was so happy when I saw him at the backstage. I come back from the stage and he was wait for me. I was so happy."

Shida is slated to defend her title against former champ Toni Storm, Saraya, and either Britt Baker or The Bunny — whoever wins a qualifying match on tonight's "AEW Dynamite." Shida also told Wrestling Inc. that she's ready for this big moment despite not expecting to compete in front of 80,000 fans as the defending champion.

The 35-year-old previously held the AEW Women's World Championship during the COVID-19 pandemic where there were little to no fans at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida, to witness her year-long reign.

If you use any quotes in this article, please credit Wrestling Inc.