Willow Nightingale has captured the AEW Women’s World Championship and set herself up for a huge opportunity this summer in London.
Nightingale won the top AEW women’s belt on Sunday night, taking down Thekla as part of Redemption from Montreal, Quebec.
Nightingale was closing in on a win late after connecting with a gutwrench powerbomb to Thekla. However, a follow-up pin attempt was stopped by Thekla ally Skye Blue, who put the defending champ’s foot on the bottom rope.
Nightingale took out Blue at ringside, a distraction which allowed Thekla to get back into the contest with a spear. A curbstomp was avoided by Nightingale, who was able to connect with a backslide for the pinfall victory immediately after.
Thekla carried the top AEW women’s title for more than 160 days, a campaign which started in February by beating rival Kris Statlander. She overcame some of the company’s biggest names over the first half of 2026, beating Jamie Hayter, Mina Shirakawa, Thunder Rosa, and STARDOM’s Starlight Kid.
Nightingale made her return to AEW TV earlier this month, being a surprise entrant in a #1 contenders Casino Gauntlet Battle Royal. She was coming back after a few weeks away due to injury, a setback which caused her to vacate the TBS Championship and withdraw from this year’s Owen Hart Tournament.
Exiting the Owen Hart Cup made many expect that Nightingale would miss out on appearing in the world title matchup at this year’s All In card at Wembley Stadium. However, earning a title this weekend and dethroning Thekla gave her an alternate route to the company’s biggest women’s match of the year.
Nightingale is now expected to face 2026 Owen Hart Foundation Tournament winner Mercedes Moné at All In. The two have history dating back to before Moné’s time in AEW. Between matches in AEW and NJPW, they have faced off three times in the past, with Nightingale prevailing in two of the appearances.
Moné’s record-setting run with the TBS title most notably came to an end against Nightingale on AEW’s New Year’s Eve edition of Dynamite in 2025. The Nightingale rival was seen watching Sunday’s co-main event from a press box inside the Bell Centre.
