Hikaru Shida Provides Update On AEW Pulling Her From Owen Hart Foundation Tournament

By Robert Gunier

As noted earlier, former AEW Women's Champion Hikaru Shida is raising some eyebrows with her reaction to being pulled from the AEW Owen Hart Foundation Tournament on Rampage last night.

Shida made it sound as though she was unaware the announcement was going to be made, responding with a, "What?" to a tweet about the subject.

She would continue tweeting, mentioning how she's wrestled four bouts in Japan since the Philly Street Fight with Deeb, and she also performed in the Makai show that includes theater, pro wrestling, and music. This implies that she isn't injured after all and has stayed regularly competing since the street fight on Dynamite.

She lastly made an interesting comment that may have been in regards to AEW's opinion of Japanese wrestling and apologized to fans.

"Well.... I already had 4 matches after the street fight and just finished the greatest fighting musical show. But I seem to have been injured... Japanese wrestling is nothing for them. I'm so sorry. And sorry couldn't be in the tournament too," Shida wrote.

Since then, Shida has posted another update, and in it, she claims she didn't make it in time for the doctor's check required to continue on in the tournament. She would again encourage the fans to root for her replacement in the tournament, Kris Statlander.

"After my Philadelphia street fight, a doctor check from AEW was required to participate in the Owen Hart Cup. And I couldn't re-enter the country in time. I'm so sorry to disappoint everyone.  These difficulties sometimes happen with international talents.

"I feel healthy and never stop trying to improve. Please cheer for Kris while I do my best in Japan! Holy Shida will be back soon."

A note from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful adds that internally, people close to the situation were all under the impression that Shida knew about this angle happening before it was revealed.

"Everyone at AEW I've spoken to is under the impression Shida was aware she'd not be in the tournament before tonight," Sapp wrote. "I assume we'll learn more or she'll clarify one way or another"

Shida previously defeated Julia Hart to qualify for the women's Owen Hart Foundation Tournament. She was scheduled to face Red Velvet in an opening-round match on next Friday's AEW Rampage episode, but now she will be replaced by Kris Statlander.

Stay tuned for any further updates.

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