Riho hadn’t been seen on AEW television since the May 28th edition of AEW Dark, but the Japanese star is back, and back in a big way.
On AEW Dynamite‘s ‘Championship Tuesday’ Hikaru Shida challenged Toni Storm for the Interim Women’s Championship. The match had been confirmed a week earlier after the two women teamed together to see off Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter.
In the second match of the night Shida pushed Storm all of the way, but it was the champion who retained her title. However, it was the action after the match that made sure the bout would be remembered.
With Storm celebrating her hard-fought win she was attacked by Rebel and Jamie Hayter while Britt Baker was also in attendance. This brought out a fired up Saraya who ran down the ramp to throw herself at Baker. As they brawled outside the ring, the beatdown on Storm inside continued.
Riho Is Back
At this Riho ran to the ring to fight off Rebel and Hayter before celebrating with Storm. As they left the ring the pair offered each other a hand as a show of respect. Interestingly, Riho’s last match on Dynamite was a victory against Jamie Hayter.
It was the first time Riho had stepped foot in an AEW ring since she teamed with Skye Blue and Yuka Sakazaki to face the trio of Diamante, Emi Sakura & Nyla Rose.
Riho has a long history with AEW having debuted with the company back in 2019. She was crowned the inaugural Women’s Champion that October where she defeated Nyla Rose. Riho was a permanent fixture in the promotion until she lost the title to Rose in February 2020.
Since then the star has appeared in AEW on an intermittent basis, mixing her time in the company with appearances with Joshi Pro Wrestling and STARDOM.