Big Return Occurs At AEW Collision Tapings

A long absent All Elite Wrestling star made their return to the company at the latest round of Collision TV tapings.

SPOILERS AHEAD.

During the post-Dynamite AEW Collision taping sessions in Winnipeg, Canada on April 1 2026, AEW TS Champion Willow Nightingale threw out an open challenge for the title, with the challenge answered by former AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida.

Shida has not wrestled for AEW since November 2024, with Shida having been absent from the promotion due to a plethora of visa issues. Recent reports stated Shida was ‘back home chilling with her cats’ suggesting that all issues were sorted, and it seems AEW wasted no-time in bringing her back into the fold.

During her time away from AEW, Shida competed in her native Japan, and signed a new AEW contract at some point in mid/late 2025. A three-time AEW Women’s World Champion, Shida has been part of AEW since 2019, with her first reign the all-time single longest in the title’s history at 372 days.

Shida was not the only long-absent AEW star to return on April 1, with inaugural AEW World Champion Chris Jericho also returning to the promotion during the TV tapings in Winnipeg.