AEW prevented 34-year-old star from retiring
AEW has achieved many milestones since first opening its doors back in 2019. Meanwhile, it seems that the company was instrumental in keeping Japanese veteran wrestler Ryo Mizunami from retiring in 2019.
Mizunami last appeared on All Elite Wrestling television when she teamed up with Hikaru Shida and Thunder Rosa on the March 10, 2021, episode of Dynamite. Her last match under the promotion's banner took place during the Fight Forever @ Tokyo Game Show 2022 - Day 2.
During her recent appearance on The Wrstling Podcast, as translated by Mr. Haku, Ryo Mizunami recalled exactly how All Elite Wrestling convinced her not to hang up her boots.
“[AEW] wanted six women for a Japanese Joshi six-woman tag match on [Double or Nothing] so they called her up. But this was a time when she was considering retiring and she thought it would be one of her last matches."
Aja Kong, Emi Sakura & Yuka Sakazaki vs. Hikaru Shida, Riho & Ryo Mizunami - AEW Double or Nothing 2019 (5.25.2019) Highlights #AEW #AEWDoN https://t.co/mVXluPAbXL
Mizunami continued, crediting the promotion to the fact that she still continues to wrestle today.
“But once she went there and had the match, that changed her view of the world and of wrestling, and she said, ‘ No, there’s no way I’m retiring or quitting when things are so fun, and I just found out that there’s so much more out there.' Without that, she probably would have retired in 2019 but because of that appearance at AEW, she’s still going strong today.” (H/T: InsideTheRopes)
Missed out on last week's AEW Dynamite or Rampage? Catch up with the results right here.
Ryo Mizunami's occasional tag-team partner and former AEW Women's World Champion Riho recently deactivated her Twitter account
Riho's run in All Elite Wrestling has unfortunately included some controversy online, with many fans constantly hounding the star and making wild accusations against her. Sadly, the pressure seems to have gotten to her, as she recently deactivated her Twitter account.
And RIHO scores the win with a last-second counter!
Watch #AEWRampage on TNT! https://t.co/Y0YHgABDJx
Fans quickly noticed that the star's Twitter account had disappeared and began to speculate as to why it could've happened. Some claimed it was due to veteran manager Jim Cornette's fanbase on the social media app, while some stated that the AEW fanbase could be the reason behind her exit.
Unfortunately, it seems that the star might not return to Twitter anytime soon. But in the meantime, Eddie Kingston has also deactivated his account on the app.