The former AEW Champion returned to television after a long absence last week, but is Thunder Rosa still not ready for a return?
It’s been a really crazy chunk of time for the former champion, so let’s recap a bit, shall we?
Thunder Rosa became AEW Women’s Champion in 2022, and officially she never lost the title.
However, due to an injury, she was forced to relinquish the title.
Along the way, she rubbed some other AEW talent the wrong way, and things spiraled out of control a bit.
And, as wrestling fans and writers tend to do, there was speculation a plenty about what injury was keeping Thunder Rosa not ready to perform.
After all, it had to be something significant to have her give up the title, right?
And while you might be excited seeing her back on AEW TV in early May…
Is Thunder Rosa Still Not Ready For A Return?
According to the Wrestling Observer…she is not.
Now, it is coming from Meltzer, and many of us are conditioned to take his reporting with a grain of salt.
However, according to the report, Thunder Rosa’s back (her injury) is still really bad, and he is not expecting she’d be back soon.
This might have fans wondering why AEW would have Rosa appear on television if an in-ring return is not imminent.
So, from this, I have a few ideas.
One, the return is imminent and Meltzer’s reporting is wrong.
Two, Thunder Rosa is still not ready, but Tony Khan wanted to make sure she earned her check, and that fans didn’t forget about her.
Over the years, we’ve seen plenty of injured wrestlers assume on-air roles to keep them visible and involved.
In some instances, the on-air role was due to talent being on the shelf for an extended period of time. Some injured talent also had interests in having some gig for life outside of the ring.
No matter what, it sounds like Rosa is still not ready, but her TV return will surely give fans hope.