Thunder Rosa hasn't stepped in an AEW ring since August 10th, 2022, when the AEW Women's World Champion defeated the team of Eli Sakura, Marina Shafir, and Nyla Rose in a trios match with Hikaru Shida and Toni Storm. While she technically remains champion, as she's successfully defended the strap on six occasions, including bouts at Battle of the Belts II, Forbidden Door, Fight For The Fallen, and Battle of the Belts III, she had to step away from the promotion with a teary promo because of a back injury and opened the door for an interim strap that has been held exclusively by Storm ever since.
“I am sorry and heartbroken and I feel like I am letting you guys down. I, for today, have to step down as the Women’s World Champion,” Rosa said on an August episode of Dynamite. “I am no longer able to defend the championship due to injury. So on September 4th at All Out, there will be a new Interim Woman’s World Champion and Toni, Toni Storm, my friend, my tag team partner, I hope your dreams come true and you become the new champion. The Interim new Champion. But I want to remind everyone that this isn’t going to stop me. This is going to make me better and I’m going to come back to come back better and stronger with a bigger chip on my shoulder.”
Though some have since thrown shade Rosa's way, with some suggesting that she was running away from her problems, few fully want to see “La Mera Mera's” run in AEW come to an end, as she remains one of the best in-ring workers on the roster. Fortunately, Rosa gave an update on her in-ring status moving forward on the Wrestling Perspective Podcast, and it sounds like she's making good progress, as transcribed by Fighful.
“I'm doing really well,” Rosa said. “This week, we made some good progress. I started running for the first time in almost 3 months. So, the physical activity is getting a little bit bigger and I'm allowed to do a lot more stuff than before. I'm not allowed to lift yet, I'm not allowed to do a lot of stuff. I'm not allowed to wrestle. But we're making progress and the fact that I can actually jog for seven minutes on and off, for me, it's huge because I have not been able to do that.”
While it sounds unlikely that the 36-year-old will be back in an AEW ring any time soon, it sure is nice to hear that she's getting better.
Thunder Rosa isn't letting her in-ring absence from AEW get to her.
Further discussing her absence with Lars Frederiksen from Rancid and Dennis Farrell on their very good podcast, Rosa explained how she's used this time away from the ring to connect with others with similar injuries and forge an iron resolve that will help her out when she returns to the ring.
“I have spoken to other patients that have had similar injuries that I have at the place that I go to. For a lot of us, you know, everybody's different, it's hit and miss when you're talking about lower back injuries, always. You have to be very careful because you can injure it again. You utilize your back for everything. So I'm really hopeful that things will continue to progress the way they are,” she said. “We're taking our time, and we're taking all the measures that I need to take to stay safe. Like I said, I'm really thankful that I'm allowed to go and do signings still, but I have to, again, be very careful, because my back gets irritated really easily. I don't want to get a huge setback that is gonna take me from doing the basic stuff, cleaning my house, you know, taking care of like walking my dog, and all that stuff. Because you can really reinjure yourself. But I still don't have like a set time yet, but again, I'm working really hard to get better, physically and mentally.”
“Because mentally, injuries can take a toll. I'm really happy that I can do that. I shared that with my family yesterday, and they're all excited. The fact that I can do more physical activity to me is huge. Because when that is taken away from you, and you are forced to be sitting at home or to be chilling, I'm just cooking like a maniac. It's hard on any athlete, but I'm really excited that I know when I come back, I'm gonna come back a lot stronger in many aspects than then when I left before.”
While only time will tell when Rosa is able to return to the ring, it's reassuring to know that when that day comes, she'll be an all-around better performer in the ring and out.
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