Megan Bayne stripped of title outside AEW; released WWE star becomes new champion

Megan Bayne has now been stripped of a championship that she held in a major indie promotion outside of AEW. The belt in question has now ended up in the grasp of former WWE Superstar Indi Hartwell. The Australian was released from the Stamford-based company in November 2024.

The Megasus has not left a single opportunity to showcase her dominance since her television debut in All Elite Wrestling earlier this year. The Connecticut native also competes prolifically outside of the Tony Khan-led promotion, including performances at GCW and STARDOM recently.

Prior to her signing with All Elite Wrestling earlier this year, Bayne made appearances in House of Glory and even became the promotion's Women's Champion by defeating The Ultra Violette in July 2024. She proceeded to mount successful defenses against Kylie Rae, Lena Kross, and Allie Katch over the next few months. However, Megan did not defend the title in 2025.

At HOG Waging War this Friday in Chicago, Illinois, Megan Bayne was officially stripped of the HOG Women's Championship. The belt was vacated, and later on the show, Miyu Yamashita and Indi Hartwell went toe-to-toe over it, with the former WWE Superstar emerging victorious.

Look who just shut down all of Tony Khan's critics! More HERE.

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Whether Hartwell defends her newly won title against Bayne anytime soon remains to be seen. Notably, the Australian had battled AEW TBS Champion Mercedes Mone at HOG City of Dreamz this past March, albeit in an unsuccessful effort.

Megan Bayne appeared on AEW Dynamite this week

Megan Bayne made her presence felt this week on AEW Dynamite, as she crashed a four-way Women's World Title Eliminator Match featuring Thunder Rosa, Penelope Ford, Anna Jay, and reigning champion Toni Storm.

The Greek Goddess tried to intervene on behalf of her ally, Ford, but was ultimately foiled by Harley Cameron, who arrived armed with a pipe to bring the fight to Megan.

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Bayne will take on Anna in singles action at Collision: Beach Break next week.

About the author

Anurag is an AEW writer for Sportskeeda Wrestling. He holds a BA and MA degree in English along with a TEFL certification to teach English. Before Sportskeeda, he worked as a Content and Correspondence writer at Nayabad Titas, a theater group. He has also worked as a English language tutor.

To ensure complete accuracy, he uses internet resources, social media platforms, and especially pieces composed by his peers to find solid, verified information that he presents as objectively as possible. Thanks to his academic background, he can research different subjects thoroughly.

Anurag's interest in wrestling began as a child. He watched RAW and Smackdown frequently from age 10 or 11 and was officially hooked by the YES Movement story in WWE heading into WrestleMania 30.

As a lifelong wrestling fan and lover of stories, Anurag would read news, articles, and other content about the talent and events he enjoyed watching. His understanding of the business continued to grow with time, and his interest in the art and sport of wrestling led him to pursue a career as a writer.

Apart from writing, he loves to read books, watch movies and television programs, play and listen to music, and write poetry and fiction.

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Edited by Anurag Mukherjee