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AEW Star Missing For Over A Year Returns On Dynamite

By Lyle Kilbane • Published Sep 04, 2025 05:50 EDT
AEW logo over blurred Riho Serena Deeb

A long-time missing AEW star has finally re-emerged on Dynamite as a huge title match was made.

At Forbidden Door, AEW had a couple of stars that had been missing for varying lengths of time, finally return to the company. Jamie Hayter came to the rescue of Queen Aminata to take the fight to Thekla, Skye Blue, and Julia Hart. Hayter had suffered an injury at Double Or Nothing, but on-screen her absence was attributed to an attack by the debuting Thekla.

A bigger shock was to come after Kazuchika Okada successfully defended the AEW Unified Championship against Swerve Strickland. With Strickland taken out via repeated steel chair shots to the knee, Wardlow made his shock return to attack Prince Nana and align himself with The Don Callis Family.

Now, on the September 3rd edition of Dynamite, another major return has taken place, and it means trouble for Mercedes Mone.

1st Ever AEW Women’s Champion Finally Returns

Dynamite saw Mercedes Mone clash with Alex Windsor for the TBS Title. Mone retained her title, but the fight continued after the match, with Windsor trapped in the Mone Maker.

Riho’s music then hit, and the inaugural AEW Women’s Champion made her way to the ring, where she hit a stomp on Mone and a dropkick that sent The CEO to the floor. It was later announced on the show that Riho has challenged Mercedes Mone to a TBS Championship match at All Out.

This will be Riho’s first match in 14 months, with her last appearance in the company coming in July 2024 when she defeated Lady Frost on Collision. That match saw the Japanese star fracture her arm, which kept her out of action ever since.

Also read: Get the full lowdown on exactly what happened on AEW Dynamite in the 2300 Arena.