AEW Expected To Sign Thekla (AEW News)

After leaving STARDOM, Thekla is expected to sign with AEW.

by Andrew Pollard
Thekla STARDOM
STARDOM

With her STARDOM exit confirmed earlier this week, and amidst WWE and AEW interest, it appears that Tony Khan's promotion will be the eventual landing spot for Thekla.

As per Fightful Select, Thekla has departed STARDOM in order to head to the United States for the next chapter in her career. Those who the outlet has spoken to about this matter understand that the US move had been planned for a while, with WWE keeping their eye on her last year and AEW likewise having what was described as "heavy" interest at that point. Now, Fightful notes that, from sources within AEW, it's expected that Thekla is set to become #AllElite.

For those who may have missed it, Sunday's All-Star Grand Queendom saw Thekla fired by STARDOM President Taro Okada after she'd attacked him. While this firing was purely from a kayfabe sense, it was done as part of the 32-year-old Austrian's exit from the company.

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Donna Del Mondo Maika Thekla Giulia Mai Sakura
STARDOM

Having made her in-ring debut in 2018, Thekla headed to Japan the very next year, initially competing for Ice Ribbon before appearing in STARDOM in 2021, where she was immediately aligned with Giulia and her Donna Del Mondo stable. During her four years with STARDOM, Thekla won the SWA World Championship and co-held both the Goddess of STARDOM Championship (with Momo Watanabe) and the Artist of STARDOM Championship (with Giulia and Mai Sakurai).

Thekla is the latest major name to depart STARDOM, following in the footsteps of, most notably, Giulia and Mina Shirikawa. Whereas Giulia is nowadays in WWE - having already won the NXT Women's Championship and now reportedly part of the official Raw roster - Mina is expected to sign with AEW, with her having already appeared semi-regularly for the promotion across the past year or so.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

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