Riho Returns To AEW On Collision, Confronts Serena Deeb Ahead Of Forbidden Door 2024
The AEW women's division just got a whole lot stronger following the June 29 edition of "AEW Collision" as Riho made her return to the company.
Following her short match with local talent Kelly Madan, Serena Deeb made it very clear that she was looking for better competition as she looks to rise back up the rankings to earn a shot at the AEW Women's World Championship. This prompted former champion Riho to make her way down to the ring for a face-off, where the two women exchanged words before Deeb left the ring before things got physical.
First-ever #AEW Women's World Champion Riho has answered the call!
Watch #AEWCollision on TNT!@SerenaDeeb | #Riho pic.twitter.com/woKAEfVR74
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) June 30, 2024
Riho hasn't been seen in the company since the "Big Business" edition of "AEW Dynamite" in March where she was defeated in the main event by Willow Nightingale, who was then confronted by Julia Hart and Skye Blue, only to be saved by Mercedes Mone who had made her AEW debut earlier that night. The reason for her prolonged absence from AEW is down to being back in Japan to sort out her visa, meaning that she legally couldn't work for AEW until her documents were finalised.
Now that she's back, it seems she wants to settle some unfinished business as she Deeb have a long history with each other. They feuded at Daily's Place in 2021, wrestling a pair of matches in which both women picked one win each. Riho eliminated Deeb from the AEW Women's World Championship Eliminator tournament in February 2021 on an episode of "AEW Dynamite," but Deeb got her revenge by beating Riho on the Buy-In portion of that year's Double or Nothing pay-per-view, which ended up being the first AEW match to take place in front of a sold out crowd since the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic began to ease.