This week’s AEW Dynamite saw the surprise announcement by Thunder Rosa that she is not medically cleared to compete. As a result, she will be unable to defend the AEW Women’s World Championship against Toni Storm at All Out on September 4th.
During her absence, an Interim Champion will be crowned. a fatal-four way matchup will occur between Toni Storm, Britt Baker, Jamie Hayter, and Hikaru Shida, with the winner being crowned AEW interim women’s champion.
Thunder Rosa vows to return with a chip on her shoulder and solidify her spot at the top of the card. She did not disclose the nature of her injury on Dynamite, but PWInsider reports that Rosa is dealing with a back injury. It’s something she has been working through for some time and there is no timetable for her return.
There was a rumor going around that Thunder Rosa has been suspended by AEW, but we can confirm this is not true.
Original Plans for the AEW Women’s title
According to the Wrestling Observer, Thunder Rosa was booked to lose the AEW Women’s World Championship to Toni Storm at All Out.
Say what you want about Rosa’s title reign, but AEW officials are well aware that interest in the women’s division has taken a considerable hit since Britt Baker dropped the title to Rosa earlier this year.
It will be interesting to see if Toni Storm still gets the Women’s title at All Out. Britt Baker is the most popular female performer on the roster and they might just put the gold back on her as a ‘reset.’
This isn’t the first time AEW has had to rely on an interim championship. CM Punk went down with an injury one week after winning the world title at Double Or Nothing, with Jon Moxley capturing the title at Forbidden Door. The Purveyor of Violence solidified his second championship reign when he squashed Punk on last night’s Dynamite.
