Mercedes Mone followed in the footsteps of other stars like Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar when she decided to leave the confines of WWE to bet on herself. After laying low for several months following her exit from the company, Mone reappeared at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 ready to take the pro wrestling world by storm. Since that time, she has won and lost the IWGP Women’s Championship, which is now held by Mayu Iwatani.
Following her title loss came worries that her time in NJPW and Stardom could be coming to an end. And while that may be true in the near future, she announced herself for NJPW’s Long Beach show Resurgence, next month, during her post-All Star Grand Queendom press conference. Tanahashi is also expected to take on Will Ospreay in an IWGP United States Championship number one contender tournament match at that show, but the match is in doubt due to an injury Tanahashi is dealing with.
Despite her success overseas, Fightful is reporting that Mercedes Mone is set to be a free agent soon. While NJPW and Stardom have been very happy with the business Mone has drummed up for the promotions, her current contract looks to expire after her match at Resurgence. Both sides are open to doing business again in the future but it would require a bigger negotiation considering how much money and attention she brought to the promotions.
It was also noted that there are no matches planned for Mone in Japan “at least for a while” but no further details were given. Those that worked with the former Sasha Banks backstage during her run in Japan speak highly of her and the door certainly appears to be open if she wants to return. To that end, The Boss has definitely shown signs that she’s interested in spending more time in the country as she has teased learning Japanese and potentially relocating there full-time.
Stay with Haus of Wrestling for all the latest Mercedes Mone news.