Hikaru Shida returned to AEW last night on Collision, answering Willow Nightingale’s TBS title open challenge.

The Japanese star had been absent from AEW television for 498 days, with her last match for the company coming on November 20, 2024.

Shida came up short in snatching away the title from Nightingale though, with Nightingale defeating her to retain in just over nine minutes.

While away from AEW, Shida did wrestle a dozen of matches, all of which were in Japan. The reason why she hasn’t been seen much on AEW TV over the last several months is because of a visa issue and the length it took to get her U.S. working visa renewed. Shida returned to the United States in October of last year but it took six months for her first appearance on AEW TV.