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One of the breakout stars for AEW upon the company's debut in 2019, Riho was not only a major signing for the company, but would be booked as the first-ever AEW Women's World Champion. Thanks to her real-life friendship with Kenny Omega, something that came to fruition due to their working relationship during their time working in Japan, Riho would become a staple of AEW in the first year of the company. While she missed quite a bit of time in 2022 due to injuries and VISA issues, Riho has made her return to the company and could once again be a featured star in the women's division, especially with longtime friend and co-worker Kenny Omega back on the road with AEW again.
Riho And Kenny Omega First Wrestled Together In 2009
Making her wrestling debut at the young age of nine, Riho would be trained by AEW's own Emi Sakura, debuting in the Ice Ribbon promotion within Japan in 2006. She would stay with the promotion for six years, before making her exit and beginning to work across Japan in promotions such as Stardom and DDT, where she and Omega would work together, eventually landing in AEW in 2019 as the company made its debut with Double or Nothing.
Kenny Omega infamously would wrestle a very young Japanese girl in singles action in Japan, something that drew the ire of controversial wrestling personality Jim Cornette, though the girl featured would not be Riho. That said, Omega and Riho would wrestle together as a team while she was still quite young, as she was born in 1997, with their first match together taking place in 2009, exactly 10 years before she would debut in AEW. During their time in Japan, Kenny and Riho would become good friends, working in intergender tag-team matches alongside one another, something they have only done in AEW once, against Penelope Ford & Kip Sabian in 2020.
Despite Baseless Rumors, Kenny Omega & Riho Are Not Dating And Probably Never Were
Something that has somehow gained a lot of steam over the past few years is the rumor that Kenny Omega not only is dating Riho, but that he began an inappropriate relationship with her while she was extremely young. To put it simply, there is nothing of substance behind this rumor aside from general racism that Riho has faced since becoming popular and the constant scrutiny that Omega has faced for years due to his vague sexuality and affinity for Japanese culture. Going even further, however, it is necessary to bring Jim Cornette into the conversation.
Over the years, Cornette has regularly attacked Kenny Omega in controversial fashion, and has suggested that Omega and Riho were partners, with no proof. This would eventually grow into more baseless rumors that Kenny Omega was sleeping with both Riho and AEW's Hikaru Shida in order for those women to get jobs with the company. Once more, there is no substance behind these rumors. As for the relationship status of AEW's Kenny Omega, that does remain a mystery as the Best Bout Machine maintains a private life and has never publicly stated if he is straight, gay, or somewhere in between, something of question following the Golden Lovers saga with longtime partner, Kota Ibushi.
When Building The AEW Women's Division, Riho Was The Original Star
When AEW first arrived on the scene in 2019, its women's division looked quite different from how it does in 2022. Without names like Jade Cargill, Jamie Hayter, Athena, Toni Storm, Tay Melo, and Thunder Rosa, the company was in a totally different place. A few AEW Originals would be there, however, with the likes of Hikaru Shida, Britt Baker, Allie, and Riho being with the company since the jump. While Baker and Shida would go on to become the most popular Women's Champions in AEW, they would not be the first. With Omega helping with the Women's Division, it came as no surprise that he would push for more Japanese talent to be brought in, with the likes of Riho, Shida, Aja Kong, and Ryo Mizunami leading the charge.
After defeating Hikaru Shida at 2019's first-ever All Out PPV, Riho would go onto become the first AEW Women's World Champion. This would be a huge statement for AEW, as it would showcase their support of young talent while also getting behind Joshi wrestlers as figureheads of the women's division within the company, as two of the first three AEW Women's Champions would be Joshi stars. Riho would carry the belt for several months before losing to Nyla Rose in 2020, who would then drop the belt to Hikaru Shida.