Update On Riho's AEW Future
Is AEW's first Women's World Champion still with the company?
The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer has hit Twitter with an update on Riho’s AEW status, clearing up speculation on the Japanese star after speculation she had signed with Stardom over the weekend.
Meltzer tweeted the following:-
Riho had tweeted a picture of her clad in a Stardom jacket earlier on Sunday, leading to the aforementioned guesswork.
Riho has not wrestled for AEW since the promotion’s first empty arena episode of Dynamite (18 March). She was part of a four-way with Hikaru Shida (the winner), Kris Statlander, and Penelope Ford, but returned to her native Japan shortly after, with travelling restrictions preventing her from making further All Elite appearances. That she is still under contracted means she’ll likely return once the world begins opening up more.
AEW’s inability to use Bea Priestley and Sadie Gibbs for similar reasons led to the promotion letting the duo go in August. PAC and Riho, however, remained under contract, with the former returning to TV last week.
Riho was the first AEW Women’s World Champion, defeating Nyla Rose to take the belt on Dynamite’s inaugural episode (2 October), holding it for 133 days until ‘The Native Beast’ felled her in February 2020.