At a press conference promoting All Elite Wrestling's All Out pay-per-view event, CEO Tony Khan addressed AEW Women's World Champion Thunder Rosa's injury as an opportunity to refresh the women's division's title picture. Instead of the planned Thunder Rosa vs. Toni Storm match at All Out, a four-way contest between Storm, Hikaru Shida, Jaime Hayter, and Dr. Britt Baker, DMD will take place to determine the Interim World Women's Champion. Both Baker and Shida are former AEW Women's Champions, with Baker ending Shida's reign at AEW Double or Nothing 2021.
Thunder Rosa announced her injury on the August 24th edition of AEW Dynamite. Similarly to how Jon Moxley reigned as the Interim AEW World Champion after titleholder CM Punk stepped aside due to his own foot injury, Rosa officially remains the AEW Women's World Champion during her recuperation period. Rosa will unify the title with the winner of the All Out four-way match when she returns. Thunder Rosa won the World Title on March 16th at St. Patrick's Day Slam, defeating Dr. Britt Baker in the culmination of their groundbreaking year-long rivalry. Rosa also defeated Toni Storm on pay-per-view at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door in June. The original plan for All Out was rumored to be Storm winning the Women's Title from Rosa, but with the addition of Hayter, Shida, and Baker, All Out's title picture becomes more interesting and unpredictable.
At the AEW All Out press conference, Screen Rant asked Khan if he is making All Out an opportunity to refresh the Women's Title and the AEW women's division as a whole:
Tony Khan: Honestly, yes, I am. It will be great to have four of the best wrestlers in that match, and I think it's a very fresh match-up... A really exciting match on the card. And I'm trying to look at it as a positive. Whenever you have a great wrestler injured, it's a very negative situation, but you have to make the best of bad situations. Just as it was very difficult to lose a lot of the top wrestlers, the top stars, and even a great World Champion like CM Punk, no matter who it is, you have to try and move on, and make the best of a situation.
I am looking forward to, hopefully, having a great four-way match. And then, whenever the Champion, Thunder Rosa does return, it sets up a great unification match with the Champion vs. the Interim Champion to crown an Undisputed Women's World Champion.
Even though it's terrible to lose Thunder Rosa, who is a great wrestler, it is great to have these three awesome contenders coming into the match. We already have the number one contender, Toni Storm, who I have so much respect for. Jamie Hayter, who had a great match with Thunder Rosa at Battle of the Belts, and I think deserves another chance at the title... And also former Champions Hikaru Shida and, of course, Dr. Britt Baker. It should be a great match.
Later in the press conference, Khan defended himself from criticism that Thunder Rosa was only given a brief interview on AEW Dynamite to announce her injury, whereas CM Punk got a full segment to cut a promo about his own injury. Khan disagreed with the criticism, noting that a CM Punk 8-minute promo would get stronger ratings than a Thunder Rosa 8-minute promo. This dovetails into overall criticism that has plagued AEW during Rosa's title reign that Thunder received far less TV time than her rival, Britt Baker, did when DMD was Women's World Champion.
Regardless, AEW All Out does open up exciting new possibilities for either a fresh new Women's Champion to be crowned in Storm or Hayter, or either Baker or Shida getting a second run atop the AEW women's division. And Tony Khan is right that a unification match with Thunder Rosa when she returns is a marquee match-up, just like Jon Moxley vs CM Punk on AEW Dynamite was in the build towards AEW All Out.
AEW All Out airs live on Sunday, September 4th @ 7pm ET on pay-per-view, Bleacher Report, and Fite.TV around the world.