Recent reports have revealed that a popular star could remain in AEW for much longer than her last appearance. The promotion recently teased her return taking place next week. This would be Mina Shirakawa.
Earlier in the year, the 36-year-old star came in for a feud with Toni Storm as both women fought for the custody of their mutual contact, Mariah May. Storm ended up winning, and Shirakawa returned to Japan as she was signed under Stardom. Back in August, she was around for All In season, and a month later she also made a brief appearance for a quick reunion with Mariah.
Fightful Select has reported that Mina Shirakawa could stay much longer this time around. It was mentioned that during her last outing with the company, they had to rush her appearances due to visa issues. These have now been sorted and could provide them more flexibility.
Last week, AEW hinted at her making her return soon. This was confirmed for next week, but it was still unclear whether this would be on Dynamite or Collision.
Mina Shirakawa says she took a gamble during her last AEW appearances
Back in September, the Japanese star talked about her projects outside of Japan at the time, including the brief stint with AEW. She mentioned how she took a gamble and accepted all of these.
While speaking to Proresu Today, Mina Shirakawa mentioned how she took the offers she was given, as there might not be chances like such in the future. She revealed that AEW had asked her to appear for a month. She talked about how specifics weren't provided and how there was even a chance she wouldn't be booked for any matches.
"This is already a gamble. It's a gamble to make myself shine. I'm not getting any younger, so I'm always thinking about what I need to do to make my way up in the limited time I have. If I refuse the offer, there may not be another. I had a gut feeling and decided to go. However, the offer from AEW was simply that they wanted me to come for one month. That was it, nothing specific about matches I'll be in or how many. There was even a possibility that no matches would happen. We didn't know until we got there," Mina Shirakawa said via DeepL Translate.
These brief appearances of hers back in August and September may have been to slowly build up a storyline between her and Mariah May. Seeing as her former best friend has now turned into a completely different woman, this could be what pushes them apart for good.