Thekla Retains AEW Women's Title vs. Statlander, Jamie Hayter, Hikaru Shida at Double or Nothing

Thekla defeated Kris Statlander, Jamie Hayter and Hikaru Shida in a four-way match at Double or Nothing on Sunday to retain the AEW Women's World Championship.

The Toxic Spider entered Double or Nothing having held the AEW women's world title for over 100 days, but she faced her toughest challenge yet at the pay-per-view since she could have lost the title even if she wasn't pinned or submitted.

Additionally, the level of competition was significant since Statlander, Hayter and Shida are all former AEW women's world champions.

Thekla won the title from Statlander on the Feb. 11 episode of Dynamite, and then proceeded to beat Statlander in a two-out-of-three-falls rematch at Revolution the following month.

Her next major title defense on pay-per-view came at Dynasty last month when she defeated Hayter to retain the AEW Women's World Championship once again.

Because of Thekla's recent matches against Statlander and Hayter, they were natural choices to challenge her for the women's title once again at Double or Nothing, but Shida also got herself in the mix.

The Japanese star had been off AEW programming for over a year before returning in April to challenge Willow Nightingale for the TBS Championship.

Shortly after falling to Willow, Shida formed a tag team with Statlander, and they got themselves in the hunt for both the AEW Women's Tag Team Championship and the AEW Women's World Championship.

Although it can be argued that Shida didn't necessarily earn a women's title match by winning a bunch of singles matches after returning, her status as a three-time AEW women's champ made her a credible challenger.

While Thekla was in a precarious position and at risk of seeing her title reign come to an end, she managed to best three of AEW's top women's wrestlers and retain at Double or Nothing.