Thunder Rosa has been considered as one of the mainstays on the AEW women’s roster. The face-painted superstar has been on the sidelines for a while, still holding the AEW Women’s World Title. However, it looks like Tony Khan is considering stripping Rosa of her title due to her lengthy inactivity.
At one time, Thunder Rosa’s reign as champion looked to be unstoppable, until August 2022. She defended her title successfully at Battle of the Belts III against Jamie Hayter, however just over 2 weeks later, Rosa revealed that she was taking time off due to injury and won’t be able to defend her title further. This led to Toni Storm stepping up and winning the title at AEW All Out, becoming the Interim AEW Women’s World Champion.
Thunder Rosa’s return is still a big question mark at the moment, with many arguing that it is time to crown Toni Storm as the official AEW Women’s World Champion. That idea is something that maybe AEW President Tony Khan might look to explore. During the AEW Full Gear media call on Thursday afternoon, Khan spoke on the situation and whether it is time to strip Thunder Rosa off the title if she continues to be sidelined.
“It’s something we have considered,” Khan said. “It’s something to consider. I’m still weighing the pros and cons. Thunder Rosa’s a great wrestler, and it’s unfortunate that she’s injured. It’s kept her out a long time. It’s not an easy situation and I try to take everything on a case-by-case basis, and am trying to give Thunder Rosa every opportunity to come back and defend the championship. But eventually, you would have to crown a lineal champion.”
Thunder Rosa signed with AEW in 2020 and made her debut on the August 22nd, 2020, episode of AEW Dynamite. Since then, she has been a pioneer of the women’s division in the land of All Elite. Rosa won the AEW Women’s World Champion in a grueling steel cage match, defeating then-champion Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D in a high-stakes encounter on the March 16 special edition episode of Dynamite.
The former mixed martial artist recently revealed that she was making progress and could run for the first time in months. Thunder Rosa also stated that currently there is no timeline for her return, and it could take several months. Moreover, current Interim AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm is all set to defend her title against her former friend Jamie Hayter at AEW’s upcoming pay-per-view, Full Gear.
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