Yesterday former women’s champion Hikaru Shida released a series of tweets revealing that AEW had not informed her that she would be pulled from the Owen Hart Memorial tournament and that the injury angle announced on Rampage was untrue as Shida was in good health. You can read about that here.
Today Shida provided an update saying that she was not able to re-enter the country from Japan in time for the tournament, and because of that she was pulled. She adds that sometimes these things happen with international talents, apologizes for letting her fans down, but promises to improve in the future.
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 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!
Kris Statlander will replace Shida in the tournament, and will face Red Velvet in the opening round on next week’s Rampage.