Riho is one of the most popular female wrestlers in all of pro wrestling and she has certainly made a name for herself in the business, most especially in Japan, where she competed at top promotions such as Stardom. Due to her popularity, AEW didn’t hesitate in signing her to a contract with the company.
In May of 2019, Riho made her official AEW debut and would even end up defeating top AEW Women’s Star Nyla Rose on the first-ever episode of Dynamite to become the inaugural AEW Women’s World Champion. Riho would then rule AEW’s Women’s Division for 133 days before losing her AEW Women’s World Title to Nyla Rose at the AEW Revolution PPV.
After the loss, we didn’t get to see Riho as much anymore and she would even get locked down in Japan due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions. Riho would then make appearance yet again in promotions such as Stardom, DDT and Gatoh Move.
A recent tweet by Riho would then suggest that she has signed a full-time deal to compete in Stardom, which had the wrestling world buzzing if this meant that she no longer will be returning to AEW. Riho posted a photo of herself wearing a Stardom jacket with her name on it, even adding more fuel to news that she is now a full-time wrestler with Stardom.
Riho could be pulling double duty by competing in both AEW and Stardom down the line, but no official announcements have been made yet by both promotions on her status and only time will tell what Riho’s future actually holds.
AEW President and CEO Tony Khan did mention however during Full Gear’s recent media scrum that he has been hopeful for a really long time now to get Riho back in AEW, but the number one issue is, especially for talents who live overseas, is that when they return to the United States, they have to undergo quarantine upon arrival. Khan also mentioned that Riho is still under contract to AEW.
You can check out Riho’s tweet below:
