Hikaru Shida Beats Ryo Mizunami, Retains AEW Women's Title at Revolution 2021

Hikaru Shida extended her nine-plus-month reign as All Elite Wrestling women's world champion at Revolution on Sunday with a victory over Ryo Mizunami.

Shida threw the kitchen sink at Mizunami, and none of it seemed to be enough to keep the challenger down. Mizunami also made the most of her strength advantage.

Finally, Shida connected with a corkscrew knee flush to the head of her opponent to secure the victory.

Since defeating Nyla Rose for the AEW women's title at Double or Nothing in May 2020, Shida has been unbeatable, which led to the implementation of the AEW Women's World Championship Eliminator Tournament to determine a new No. 1 contender.

The 16-woman tournament featured eight wrestlers competing in the United States and eight competing in Japan. Rose advanced to the finals on the American side, while Mizunami was victorious on the Japanese side.

With Shida looking on, Mizunami ran through her competition, beating Maki Itoh, Aja Kong and Yuka Sakazaki en route to the finals.

On the Dynamite before Revolution, Rose and Mizunami battled it out in a hard-hitting and entertaining match. Mizunami ultimately prevailed, thus establishing herself as Shida's opponent at Revolution.

After Mizunami's win, Shida attempted to congratulate her in the ring. They clasped hands as if to shake, but Mizunami struck Shida. In response, the champion put down the challenger with a series of strikes of her own.

While Shida has been one of the top female wrestlers in AEW since its inception, casual fans knew less about Mizunami, who has done almost all of her work in Japan. The 32-year-old made her pro wrestling debut in 2004 and is perhaps best known for her decade-long spell with Pro Wrestling Wave.

Mizunami has held titles in Pro Wrestling Wave, JWP Joshi Puroresu and Ice Ribbon, and she had her sights set on the AEW women's world title.

Shida managed to survive a tough challenge and retain the AEW Women's title once again, but after her impressive performance, Mizunami may be here to stay in AEW.

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