Former AEW Champion Suffers Broken Collarbone
Former AEW Women's World Champion Riho broke the news on social media this week that she recently suffered a broken collarbone and that she is currently back in Japan while recovering. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer followed that up with a new report stating she is expected to be out for three months and that the injury took place early in her title match with Dr. Britt Baker at the Battle of the Belts event last month.
The Japanese star was the first woman to hold the AEW Women's World Championship, defeating Nyla Rose for the title on the inaugural episode of AEW Dynamite back in October 2019. Her reign lasted 133 days before dropping it to Rose, but she climbed back into contention by consistently never losing against Britt Baker, including a non-title match the pair had on the Nov. 26 episode of AEW Rampage.
いま日本にいます!
— RIHO 里歩 (@riho_gtmv) January 31, 2022
鎖骨を折ってしまい、治療しております。(もうそんなに痛みはない)
ゆっくり休んで、完全に治して、また頑張ります〜!!! https://t.co/RGyfaDELj3
Stay tuned for more updates on Riho's status as they become available. Baker made headlines last month in an interview with Inside The Ropes, confirming WWE's interest in her while also saying she feels it's hard for wrestlers to trust that company due to the massive number of releases they've made over the past two years.
"They definitely expressed interest — unfortunately, I've got to pick and choose how I say this — but I just feel like you can't trust anything with that company, whereas at AEW I've never been promised anything that didn't follow through," Baker said "So it's something that, unfortunately, it's sad that it comes down to that, that it makes a company not really desirable because you can't trust anything they say. And I know business is business, and I understand totally that's what it is, but as a wrestler, business is business as well."
This week's AEW Dynamite will take place at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. So far the card includes the long-awaited grudge match between CM Punk and MJF, Nyla Rose vs. Ruby Soho and PAC & Penta El Zero Miedo vs. The Kings of the Black Throne.