AEW saw a major change during the May 20 episode of AEW Dynamite after Willow Nightingale announced that she vacated the AEW TBS title because of a serious shoulder injury.
Nightingale suffered the injury while performing a clothesline during her tough TBS Championship match against Red Velvet on the May 16 episode of AEW Collision. Even though she was clearly hurting during the match, she still managed to retain the title.
Willow Nightingale Forced To Give Up Championship Due To Injury
The announcement happened during a backstage segment where Nightingale spoke directly to fans about her title reign and her current situation. She revealed that the injury is bad enough to keep her out of action for an unknown amount of time. She also confirmed that she is pulling out of the Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.
Even with the disappointing news, Nightingale ended her promo on a positive note and promised fans she plans to return as soon as she is medically cleared. She also made it clear that when she comes back, she does not plan on slowly working her way up again. Instead, she wants to jump right back into the title picture.
Nightingale was originally supposed to face Alex Windsor in the opening round of the tournament at AEW Double or Nothing. The tournament already includes several big names like Athena, Mina Shirakawa, Sareee, Hazuki, Skye Blue, and Persephone.
A Wild Card entrant will now take Nightingale’s spot in the tournament heading into the pay-per-view.
The injury ends a big second championship reign for Nightingale. Back in December 2025, during Dynamite: New Year’s Smash, she defeated Mercedes Moné to become the first-ever two-time AEW TBS Champion.
Nightingale’s absence will definitely leave a big hole in AEW programming for now.
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