Reviewing Hikaru Shida's Big Win at Dynamite 200

200 episodes already?! By my mental math, that's nearly four years' worth of wrestling episodes. Time sure flies, doesn't it? October 2, 2019, that was the date that the very first episode of AEW Dynamite aired on television. August 2, 2023: that's the date that the show's 200th aired on TBS, and it was amazing. WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam made his appearance on Dynamite to confront the now-villainous FTW Champion Jack Perry, and speaking of champions, we saw World Champion MJF actually bare his soul, call out Adam Cole, and officially sign a title match between the two of them at All In, the upcoming event set to take place at Wembley Stadium in London.

The main event of "Dynamite 200" was the AEW Women's World Championship contest between titleholder Toni Storm and challenger Hikaru Shida. This was kinda full circle, because Toni Storm's villainous path actually began with Shida. We saw Toni, Shida, and the incoming Saraya banded together against the heel antics of Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter, but in an ironic occurrence, Saraya and Toni became the very evil that they fought against, as they went on a crusade against AEW's "homegrown" talent, which happened to inclued Britt and Jamie. Their crusade saw Ruby Soho joined the now-named Outcasts, but Shida would return from injury and fight against her former friends.

Toni went on to capture the AEW Women's World Championship from Jamie Hayter at this year's Double Or Nothing, and has been successfully defending the title thanks to the outside help of cohorts Saraya and Ruby. Similar to those past occurrences, the rest of the Outcasts did their best to interfere, and that led a frustrated Shida to raise her kendo stick in anger, but she could not use it--she'd get disqualified. Shida placed her weapon down, but once the official focused on getting the weapon out of the ring, Toni took out her own weapon: the spray paint. However, even being sprayed in the eyes would not deter Shida. Not only did Shida kick out, she would later counter Toni's other pinning attempt, with a successful one of her own.

When Toni Storm captured the title at Double or Nothing, she became AEW's first-ever two-time champion. Shida, with her victory, became the second. I knew Shida was going to win when this match was made. Three reasons. First, it's the 200th episode of Dynamite, and this was the main event. Big sign. Second, as I said before, this was full circle. Saraya and Toni (and to a smaller extent, Ruby) betrayed a lot of women with their actions, but the biggest betrayal was against Shida. They were very tight once Saraya debuted, but Shida began to become pushed aside by both Saraya and Toni, who took a dark path in the process.

The third reason came during this match. As we all remember, Shida is also the longest reigning AEW Women's World Champion in the company's four year history, as her first reign lasted 372 days--just over a year. As we also remember, and as the announcers stated, Shida's long run came during the worst heights of the COVID-19 pandemic. The world was shut down, including wrestling, with no fans attending, yet Shida held it down as champion for over a year. However, when fans returned, Shida's first event as champion in front of fans, was her last, as she lost to Britt Baker. I knew Shida would win entering Dynamite 200, but when that was emphasized, my feeling increased. I was extra happy that Shida won, because I found myself losing respect for Toni Storm due to her basically being in agreement in Britt Baker's racist shaming and slander towards Thunder Rosa.

Hikaru Shida as champion opens the door for quite a few possibilities. We could see either Saraya or Ruby challenge Shida. I would love to see Shida face off against a deliciously evil Taya Valkyrie down the line. We may see Shida face off against returning Thunder Rosa, after all, she never lost that title. In any event, I am all here for Hikaru Shida's second run as AEW Women's World Champion!