Willow Nightingale Pulls Out Of AEW Owen Hart Cup And Vacates TBS Championship

Willow Nightingale is no longer the TBS Champion in AEW. She's also officially out of the AEW Women's Owen Hart Cup Tournament.

Nightingale shocked the pro wrestling world during this week's episode of AEW Dynamite. She cut a live backstage promo and revealed that due to a shoulder injury, she would be taking time away from All Elite Wrestling indefinitely.

Fighting champion through and through.

Unfortunately, @willowwrestles has suffered an injury and will be forced to withdraw from the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament and relinquish the TBS Title!

Watch #AEWDynamite LIVE on TBS + HBO Max pic.twitter.com/a2ntrffQCL
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) May 21, 2026

Because of that time away, Nightingale said she was pulling herself out of the Owen Hart Cup Tournament, which is set to begin at Double or Nothing this weekend. She also confirmed that she would be vacating the TBS Championship after 10 successful title defenses.

Nightingale didn't give much information on the nature of her injury. She said it was shoulder related, but didn't reveal whether or not she would have to have surgery to repair it. She also didn't give herself any potential timetable for a return to the ring.

Willow Nightingale injury throws Owen Hart Cup tournament into dissary

Last week on Dynamite, AEW announced the brackets for both the men's and women's Owen Hart Cup Tournaments. Like in past years, the winner of each tournament will go on to All In and wrestle for the AEW World Championship.

Nightingale was scheduled to wrestle Alex Windsor in first round tournament action. Windsor will now face a wild card opponent in round one. Other first round action include Persephone vs. Hazuki, Skye Blue vs. Saree, and Athena vs. Mina Shirakawa, which will now take place at Double or Nothing.

The 2025 Women's Owen Hart Cup tournament winner was Mercedes Moné. The CEO went on to face Toni Storm for the AEW Women's World Championship. At that time, Mercedes was the TBS Champion in AEW and Nightingale later defeated her to win the title.

AEW returns to PPV this weekend with it's annual Double or Nothing event from Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York. Double or Nothing was the name of the first-ever AEW event back in 2019 when the company first started.

Announced matches for the show include Darby Allin vs. MJF for the AEW World Championship. If MJF loses the match, he will have to shave his head bald.

FTR will defend the AEW Men's World Tag Team Championships against Adam Copeland and Christian Cage in an "I Quit" Street Fight, Kazuchika Okada vs. Konosuke Takeshita for the AEW International Championship, and the biggest Stadium Stampede in AEW history. Double or Nothing airs live on HBO Max and PPV on Sunday May 24.

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