Thekla made her surprise debut during "AEW Dynamite" to attack Jamie Hayter.
Thekla had reportedly agreed a deal with the promotion earlier this month, having ended her four-year tenure with World Wonder Ring STARDOM in April. She was written off of STARDOM after losing a bout against Sayaka Kurara on April 27, attacking President Taro Okada and other officials before flipping off the crowd to wrap up her run.
Another STARDOM alum, Hayter, appeared in an interview segment during "Dynamite" to address her defeat in the Owen Hart Cup final to Mercedes Mone on Sunday. But before she could get started on spelling out what was next, the lights went out and came back to show the "Toxic Spider" attacking her.
Thekla started wrestling in Vienna, Austria's underground wrestling scene in 2017, making her official in-ring debut the next year on the German independent circuit before transitioning to Japan.
She spent time with Ice Ribbon, known for hosting eventual AEW Women's Champions Riho and Hikaru Shida, between 2019 and 2021 before eventually joining STARDOM, aligning with Giulia's Donna Del Mondo faction. She won both the Goddesses of STARDOM and Artist of STARDOM Championships, the former alongside Momo Watanabe and the latter alongside Giulia and Mai Sakurai.
Upon her departure in April, it was reported that she was heading to America with interest from both WWE and AEW, before word emerged that she had agreed to sign with Tony Khan's promotion.
