Prior to Saturday night, it had been almost six months since Hikaru Shida competed on AEW programming, and almost three months since she her last Ring of Honor match, when she became the latest conquest of ROH Women's Champion Athena at Supercard of Honor overWrestleMania weekend. Two weeks ago, however, Shida announced via video package that she was entering the 2024 women's Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, and Saturday on "AEW Collision," Shida made her return and emerged victorious, pinning Deonna Purrazzo to advance to the semifinals.
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It was the first-ever in-ring meeting betweenShida and Purrazzo, who lasted nine minutes with the former three-time AEW Women's World Champion before suffering a thunderous Katana that eliminated her from the tournament in the first round. Shida appeared to have potentially suffered a shoulder injury during the contest, though whether it was legitimate or in storyline was unclear; after the match, Purrazzo attacked Shida and was about to hit her with her own kendo stick when Thunder Rosa ran down to make the save, continuing the heated rivalry between Rosa and Purrazzo.
