Tag: Mercedes Mone

Reported Plans For Mercedes Mone When She Returns From Injury

Mercedes Mone has been out of action with an ankle injury since her match against Willow Nightingale at NJPW STRONG Resurgence in May. As she gets closer to her eventual return, it appears there are still plans for Mone in NJPW going forward.

Yesterday’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter states that, as many have expected, the promotion is planning to have Mone challenge Giulia for the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship. That title was reportedly created with Mone in mind, and she was set to become the first winner. However, that ankle injury resulted in Mone making a call on the fly to have Nightingale win the title. Nightingale would go on to drop the championship to Giulia in early July.

It’s not yet known exactly when she’ll be ready to return, but Mone is believed to be approaching a full recovery from the ankle injury. The former WWE star had an eventful few months leading up to the injury, returning to the world of wrestling at the Tokyo Dome during NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 in January. Mone went on to feud against KAIRI, eventually winning the IWGP Women’s Championship against her. However, Mone would drop that title to Mayu Iwatani in April.

Before her injury, Mone was reportedly set to wrestle at AEW All In, providing some further explanation for her appearance in the crowd at the Wembley Stadium event in August. Because of that, it seems likely that Mone will make her way to AEW in some capacity once she is cleared by doctors, in addition to her NJPW dates.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Report – AEW Interested In Mercedes Mone For AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door

While Mercedes Mone is currently out of action with an ankle injury, Tony Khan and other AEW officials were in talks with New Japan Pro Wrestling about having the former Sasha Banks appear at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door II.

According to a report from Fightful Select, the two sides were speaking about the possibility of Mone appearing at the June 25th pay-per-view event. These talks took place before Mone suffered her injury at the NJPW Resurgence event.

In the past, AEW has referenced Mone on commentary. Several sources in both AEW and NJPW have said the talks may have gone as far back as January.

While there have been rumors that Mone would be facing off against Saraya at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II, that has not been confirmed.

It remains to be seen how long Mone will be out of in-ring action or whether she’ll still be making an appearance on the show.

Source: eWn

Backstage Update On Mercedes Mone’s NJPW Contract

As previously reported, Mercedes Mone suffered an injury, believed to be a broken ankle, in the main event of NJPW Resurgence while she was wrestling Willow Nightingale on Sunday night. 

Mone was supposed to become the first-ever NJPW Strong Women’s Champion, but when she went for a code red off the top rope and slipped, resulting in the injury, plans had to be changed with Willow going over. 

Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the former IWGP Women’s Champion agreed to a long-term deal on April 27th.

“Mone had agreed to a longer-term deal with New Japan when her original deal expired on 4/27. We were told that the New Japan Strong championship and belt were created when she agreed to the longer term deal and both were created for her, after she showed strong drawing power for the San Jose show which sold out the Civic Auditorium,” Meltzer wrote.

Source: eWn

Mercedes Mone Injured At NJPW Resurgence

Mercedes Mone appears to have suffered an injury.

At Sunday night’s NJPW Resurgence pay-per-view event, the former Sasha Banks faced off against AEW wrestler Willow Nightingale in the finals of the one-night NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship tournament.

The end of the match came when Nightingale hit her Doctor Comb finisher on Mercedes for a two-count. She then hit another one immediately after for the pinfall. Following the match, Mone was carried out of the arena.

As of this writing, there is no word on Mone’s current condition.

Pwinsider and Bryan Alvarez report that the word going around is that Mone suffered a broken ankle in a spot where she fell off the top rope, which you can see below:

Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Mone was supposed to win the title, but the decision to put the title on Willow was made on the fly due to the injury.

https://twitter.com/Queenofallerass/status/1660490281370931202
https://twitter.com/THENEXTBlGTHlNG/status/1660488950727983104

Source: eWn

https://twitter.com/MercedesVarnado/status/1660509287335211009

Mercedes Mone Signs Contract Extension With NJPW/STARDOM – UPDATED Information

Mayu Iwatani defeated Mercedes Moné to win the IWGP Women’s Championship in the penultimate match at STARDOM All-Star Grand Queendom.

While Mone isn’t the IWGP Women’s Champion anymore, she will stay with NJPW and STARDOM for the immediate future.

The Wrestling Observer is reporting that Mone signed a contract extension with Bushiroad ahead of her title defense at STARDOM All-Star Grand Queendom. It’s unknown how long the contract extension is.

Following her loss at All-Star Grand Queendom, Mone announced that she will appear at NJPW Resurgence on May 21st in Los Angeles, CA.

Source: eWrestlingNews

UPDATE

New information suggests that Moné’s extension may be short-term instead of long-term.

Fightful Select has learned from people in Mone’s camp that the former IWGP Women’s Champion has no more dates with Stardom, and only one more date with NJPW, scheduled to be the Resurgence event in Long Beach, California on May 21. While future dates for NJPW in Japan weren’t dismissed, it was noted that none were planned as of now, which would effectively make Moné a free agent following her Resurgence appearance.

Despite that, things appear to be rosy between Moné and the Bushiroad promotions, with both sides being open to doing business again in the future. Those in Stardom, in particular, appear to be thrilled with Moné’s recent work with Mayu Iwatani in the promotion and believe Mone helped boost Stardom’s business. Due to that, however, it’s expected that a “bigger renegotiation” would be required to obtain Moné’s services for her to appear in Stardom again.

As has been the case after previous reports of Moné’s contract status with Bushiroad, speculation will now turn to where she could wind up following her Resurgence appearance, with WWE (where she worked as Sasha Banks for over a decade) and AEW serving as the leading candidates. Whether Moné would entertain joining either promotion is unknown, as it was noted she is currently working on TV and film projects, in addition to her wrestling commitments.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Backstage News On Whether Mercedes Mone Is Really Going To AEW

Last night’s “AEW Dynamite” included a sit-down interview featuring Saraya, Toni Storm, and Hikaru Shida speaking with Renee Paquette. In the interview, Saraya stated that she had the best women’s wrestler in the world sitting next to her, and chose Storm as her partner for next week, much to the ire of Shida. For some, this put the question of whether or not Mercedes Moné will debut for the company next week to rest. That includes Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, who spoke on the “Wrestling Observer Radio” podcast about the issue.

“It was very clear on the show tonight, she is not in Los Angeles,” Meltzer said. “She’s not coming to AEW. I don’t think she wants to make that commitment, because if she goes to AEW it’s a long commitment.” Meltzer’s co-host, Bryan Alvarez, made it clear that he hasn’t been told anything, but he still believes Moné is a strong possibility for the January 11 show.

“I’ve heard denials from AEW people in the match,” Meltzer continued. “That’s why they had to announce somebody this week. Because they knew that it was really screwed, because everybody was thinking it was her, and it wasn’t her.”

Alvarez is not the only one who isn’t completely sold on things being exactly as they seem. Shida’s clear frustration at Saraya choosing Storm over her, along with the “Boss” reference from Dr. Britt Baker earlier in the show, has led some to believe Moné is still a possibility, or at the very least shenanigans will take place before next week’s match to change things up. Whatever the outcome, there’s no doubt plenty of eyes will be on AEW as the company heads to Los Angeles for the second time.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Mercedes Mone (Sasha Banks) Makes NJPW Debut At Wrestle Kingdom 17

It is indeed ‘Boss Time’ at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 as Sasha Banks has made her debut for the promotion.

In the second match of the main card, IWGP Women’s Champion KAIRI retained her title against Tam Nakano.

Post-match, Banks, now going by the name Mercedes Mone, appeared and posed in the ring, before challenging KAIRI to a Women’s Championship match.

Mone would attack KAIRI and vow to leave the IWGP Women’s Champion bankrupt when they face off for the title.

The match between KAIRI and Mone has been set for NJPW Battle in the Valley on February 18 in San Jose, California.

Mone’s arrival was later shared via tweet by the NJPW Global account.

Source: ewrestlingnews