The inaugural and former AEW Women’s World Champion is back on AEW Dynamite and she picked up a huge victory. Riho defeated the NWA World Women’s Champion Serena Deeb in a first-round match in the AEW Women’s World Title Eliminator Tournament.
This tournament is to determine a number one contender for the women’s title against the champion, Hikaru Shida. It involves 16-women and is broken up into two sides. One side with talent in the United States and the other in Japan.
As a result of the ongoing pandemic, Riho has not wrestled for AEW since March of 2020. Her last match was a four-way against Shida, Penelope Ford, and Kris Statlander. During her time since she has been wrestling for STARDOM.
Riho is able to counter Detox by Deeb which leads to several reversals. The match ends with Deeb getting caught in the Gedo Clutch for Riho to get the pin and the win. The booking with this first-round match could have gone either way. A returning Riho being a former champion taking on the NWA Women’s Champion in Deeb definitely was gonna be a big win either way.
Riho’s move forward in the brackets means that she will be facing Thunder Rosa next. Rosa defeated Leyla Hirsch in her first-round match last week. As for the Japan side, all four first-round matches took place on YouTube this past Monday. For that recap, you can click here.
What did you think of the match tonight between Riho and Deeb? Who do you see making it to the finals and who will ultimately win to face Shida at Revolution on March 7? Leave your thoughts below.
