Hikaru Shida Beats Deonna Purrazzo On AEW Collision, Advances In Women's Owen Hart Cup
Prior to Saturday night, it had been almost six months since Hikaru Shida competed on AEW programming, and almost three months since she her last Ring of Honor match, when she became the latest conquest of ROH Women's Champion Athena at Supercard of Honor over WrestleMania weekend. Two weeks ago, however, Shida announced via video package that she was entering the 2024 women's Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, and Saturday on "AEW Collision," Shida made her return and emerged victorious, pinning Deonna Purrazzo to advance to the semifinals.
It was the first-ever in-ring meeting between Shida and Purrazzo, who lasted nine minutes with the former three-time AEW Women's World Champion before suffering a thunderous Katana that eliminated her from the tournament in the first round. Shida appeared to have potentially suffered a shoulder injury during the contest, though whether it was legitimate or in storyline was unclear; after the match, Purrazzo attacked Shida and was about to hit her with her own kendo stick when Thunder Rosa ran down to make the save, continuing the heated rivalry between Rosa and Purrazzo.
The path to Wembley, history, and revenge
The winner of the women's Owen Hart Cup earns a women's world title match at All In at Wembley Stadium, where Shida's second title reign ended last year at the hands of Saraya. Assuming reigning champion "Timeless" Toni Storm is still holding the title come August 25, Storm vs. Shida would be one of the most intriguing possible matchups — Storm ended Shida's third title reign back in November at Full Gear, making the two of them the only women to have held the championship three times.
Storm is also chasing Shida's record for combined days as champion; if she makes it to All In with the belt, she'll be just two weeks away, meaning Wembley could be Shida's last chance to defend her record and win the title for a record fourth time. To even get there, however, she'll have to beat either Saraya or Storm disciple Mariah May in the semifinals (Saraya and May will meet in first round action this Sunday on the Forbidden Door Zero Hour pre-show) and then get past the winner of the grudge match between Willow Nightingale and Kris Statlander that's set to go down next Wednesday on "AEW Dynamite: Beach Break."