AEW’s Womens Division has been up and down since their inception. From early releases in the form of Kylie Rae to injuries, many plans have shifted during the year plus the promotion has been active. In the world of professional wrestling, plans can be made for long term and forced to shift due to factors like this, and AEW was no exception to this.
The company did have plans originally for their division in the long term, but during Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer revealed that the company originally had a plan for who they wanted to center their Women’s Division around. According to Meltzer, Britt Baker was originally supposed to be “the chosen one”, with executives liking her backstory and her legitimate background as a dentist. Her superstar looks and ability to talk on the microphone didn’t hurt as well.
Things changed quickly when Baker turned heel, with them shifting Hikaru Shida into the main babyface for the division, who has carried the title through a good portion of the pandemic.
Another change came when Kylie Rae requested her release from AEW. Cody Rhodes was very vocal about putting her over, and even said she worked the smiling babyface character better than Bayley did.
The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly reshaped the division. The women they would bring in from Japan have not been on television due to this, and injuries to Baker and Kris Statlander have certainly also forced them to call some audibles in addition to the absence of Awesome Kong.
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