Hikaru Shida returns on AEW Collision

For the first time in nearly 500 days, former AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida returned to AEW TV, making a surprise return on Thursday’s Collision.

Shida challenged reigning TBS Champion Willow Nightingale in an open challenge, losing on a backslide and teasing hitting Nightingale with a cane shot afterward.

It was Shida’s first match in AEW since November 2024 when she was defeated by Kris Statlander. Part of her absence was due to a slow visa process as described by Kenny Omega in May 2025. Last October, she shared on social media that she was returning to the United States but it’s unclear what took so long for AEW to bring her back.

The 37-year-old Shida has remained relatively active in Japan during her time home, wrestling 11 times for various promotions.

An AEW original who has been with the promotion since 2019, Shida has had three reigns as AEW Women’s World Champion. The most recent of those reigns occurred in 2023.

Josh Nason

Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He’s a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.