Hikaru Shida Returns To AEW, Quickly Added To Top Storyline

The Outcasts were took, hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray – whatever the verbiage – Hikaru Shida got the better of the dastardly trio on this week's "AEW Dynamite," when she returned to AEW programming for the first time since December.

After a match between The Outcasts' Saraya and Willow Nightingale, Shida arrived on the scene to seemingly help The Outcasts attack Nightingale, but Shida double-crossed The Outcasts, helping AEW originals Dr. Britt Baker DMD and Women's World Champion Jamie Hayter get the upper hand on the faction, with Shida spraying the Outcasts in the eyes with spraypaint, attacking the trio with a kendo stick and spraypainting the letters of "AEW" on Saraya, Ruby Soho, and Toni Storm.

Shida last wrestled on "Dynamite" during the special "Holiday Bash" episode on December 21 of last year, in a losing effort against Hayter. Shida was proud of competing in a main event title match on the show but was ultimately disappointed by the loss. It was this loss to Hayter that made The Outcasts initially believe that Shida might be on their side during her return Wednesday night.

Shida signed with AEW shortly after its founding in 2019, and is a former AEW Women's World Champion, holding the title for a record-setting 372 days, before eventually losing the title to Baker. Shida was busy during her time away from AEW, defending her International Ribbon Tag Team Championship alongside Ibuki Hoshi in Ice Ribbon, and also defending her Regina Di WAVE Championship in WAVE. Both promotions are based in her homeland of Japan.