Hikaru Shida Reveals Her Ultimate Goal in AEW

Published 04/20/2021, 7:45 AM EDT

Follow Us

The AEW Women’s Championship will be defended on this week’s edition of AEW Dynamite. Ahead of their bout, Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida and challenger Tay Conti looked back at their rivalry.

Tay recently signed with AEW and faced NWA Women’s Champion Serena Deeb in a losing effort. After that, she had a series of singles wins that got her to the top contendership.

Shida, on the other hand, has been the AEW Women’s Champion for well over a year now. This would be the longest-reigning AEW Champion’s (across all divisions) eighth title defense.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

“I have a dream,” Shida said ahead of their bout. “That one day wrestle in the sold-out arena as AEW Women’s World Champion. This is how I became the longest-reigning champion in AEW history.” 

AEW’s main rival WWE has already made their women main-event at WrestleMania 35, and the night one of recently concluded WM 37 Night 1.

In the name of sportsmanship, Shida did not forget to praise her opponent for the match as well. “Tay Conti, we have only tied for few matches, but I know you work hard and you have come a long way.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

“You’re a great athlete, you’re pretty, you have fighting spirits and you may become the champion. But not now! Not this time! I’ll return to the full arena as AEW Women’s champion! And now it’s time to fight.”

Tay Conti is also looking forward to her match against Hikaru Shida

This is also Tay’s first major title match since Serena Deeb’s match. The emotional 25-year-old initially looked back at her journey when AEW announced their match.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

So much respect for Shida, but when the bell rings you will face the most dangerous Tay Conti you ever watched,” Conti tweeted out. “18 years of my life dedicated to martial arts, all of this for THIS MOMENT!!! There’s no giving up, no failure, I have no option but to succeed.”

Trending

Get instantly notified of the hottest stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

Although the match with Shida is making Conti nervous, she is prepared and confident. She said, “I don’t think Shida even knows the level I train in. In my mind, consistent hard work leads to success, and that’s my journey. Now it is my time.”

In the video, Conti said she will miss her best friend Anna Jay during the match. Jay was injured earlier during her training session. Apart from her, Conti has an entire family of Dark Order behind her. Conti cited late Brodie Lee’s son Negative One as her inspiration as well.

Both women are confident about each other’s capabilities. Fans have to look forward to Wednesday’s match to spectate who emerges as the winner in this high-impact match.

WATCH: Mike Tyson Knocks Out AEW Superstar Cash Wheeler on Dynamite

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Angana Roy

1,266Articles

One take at a time

Angana Roy is a WWE and AEW author for EssentiallySports, having published more than 800 professional wrestling articles. She is currently pursuing higher studies in English language and literature from the University of Calcutta and has over three years of experience in journalism. As a life-long fan of the sports entertainment brand of pro-wrestling, her work consists of live coverage of weekly shows, PPVs, speculating the future course of storylines and everything in between.
Show More>