Willow Nightingale is officially back in AEW, and she's wasting no time getting back into the championship picture.

Nightingale made her surprise return on this week's episode of AEW Dynamite, entering the Women's Casino Gauntlet Match as the final competitor and earning an opportunity at the AEW Women's World Championship.

The high-stakes gauntlet featured Athena, Maya World, Skye Blue, Mina Shirakawa, Rina, Julia Hart, and Thunder Rosa before Nightingale made her return after nearly two months away from the ring. After an action-packed 18-and-a-half-minute contest, Nightingale sealed the victory by pinning Julia Hart to become the new No. 1 contender.

The win marks a successful comeback for Nightingale, who has been sidelined since late May after suffering an injury that forced her to relinquish the AEW TBS Championship and withdraw from the Women's Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.

With the victory, Nightingale has secured a shot at the AEW Women's World Championship against reigning champion Thekla. The championship match is set to take place at AEW Redemption on July 26 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Nightingale's return adds another major matchup to the card as AEW continues to build toward one of its biggest events of the summer.

WELCOME BACK @WILLOWWRESTLES!

Watch #AEWDynamite LIVE on TBS & HBO Max pic.twitter.com/CY1qb7ZivN

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) July 9, 2026

.@WillowWrestles is going to #AEWRedemption to face @Toxic_Thekla for the AEW Women's World Title!

Watch #AEWDynamite LIVE on TBS & HBO Max pic.twitter.com/F8vkvW4tmS

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) July 9, 2026