Backstage controversy surrounds a returning AEW star as they make their long-awaited comeback to television. No, not CM Punk, but former Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa.
On August 24th, 2022, Thunder Rosa revealed that she would be unable to defend her Women’s Title against Toni Storm at All Out, and she hasn’t wrestled for the company since. At the time there was a great deal of speculation around whether the injury was real, while there were also reports that Rosa had fallen out with members of the locker room and had major heat with Britt Baker.
Rosa won the Women’s Title by defeating Baker at St Patrick’s Day Slam and it came to light that their on-screen rivalry extended backstage.
To add to the controversy, Rosa didn’t relinquish the Women’s Title until November, after being critised by Toni Storm among others.
Rosa finally made her return to AEW in February when she began working as part of the Spanish commentary team and returned to television on May 10th. During her absence, Rosa revealed that she had apologised to the locker room, and tried to drop the Women’s Title as soon as had to take time off. Her return to television also came as a surprise given her back is still in bad shape, and could even require surgery.
Reporting in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reiterated that Rosa might need surgery, and pointed to comments made previously by others who questioned the validity of the issues. He added that there are still “fences that need to be mended” between the star and others in the locker room.
Interestingly, Tony Khan has previously stated that Rosa and Baker will “never get along.”
“Thunder Rosa may need back surgery. But right now her returning to the ring doesn’t appear to be imminent. But obviously her back issues are far worse than originally believed when she stepped aside which makes it kind of bad that when she did that people acted as if she was faking an injury to get around doing a job and boy was that clear in comments at the time by some of the women talent. There are also fences that needed to be mended there.”
Thunder Rosa No Nearer To In-Ring Return
Despite returning to television, it appears that Thunder Rosa won’t be back in the ring in the near future. On top of reports from Meltzer, Rosa herself said in April that she won’t be cleared “anytime soon” and spoke openly about the pain she was in every time she tried to wrestle.