Mercedes Mone started 2023 off with a bang when she debuted for NJPW at Wrestle Kingdom 17, her first pro wrestling appearance since leaving WWE. Following current WWE star KAIRI’s successful IWGP Women’s Championship defense against Tam Nakano, Mone revealed she was the new CEO of the division and set up a match against the champion. At Battle In The Valley, Mone defeated KAIRI, taking her title.
Mone’s reign was not long, as she lost the IWGP Women’s Championship to Mayu Iwatani about two months later at Stardom’s All-Star Grand Queendom event. However, a month later, she found herself as the front-runner in the tournament to crown the first-ever NJPW Strong Women’s Champion. In the finals of the tournament, Mone faced off against AEW’s Willow Nightingale, but unfortunately, she sustained an ankle injury mid-way through the bout, and the finish had to be changed. This led to a surprise victory by Nightingale, who held the championship for forty-five days before dropping it to the current title-holder Giulia.
Following the loss, Mone largely went dark until re-appearing for a brief cameo at AEW All In: London, where she was shown sitting in the crowd. Of note, she was still wearing an ankle brace at that time and did not look ring-ready, but rumors began to swirl that she could be AEW-bound. The conversation around Mone’s future began to change when word got out that Endeavor’s Ari Emanuel had re-empowered Paul “Triple H” Levesque as the head of WWE’s creative process, removing Vince McMahon’s ability to have the final say.
In the time since, KAIRI, someone Mone enjoys working with, has returned to the WWE fold and is being prominently presented as part of the Damage CTRL stable. Mone has a lot of history with another member of that stable, Bayley. The two women are part of what is known as The Four Horsewomen of WWE and came up together in NXT. The other two female stars in that group are Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair, the latter of which reportedly just re-signed with WWE for several more years.
With all that in mind, Mone got WWE fans buzzing yesterday when she shared a photo on Instagram Stories of herself outside the Boston Garden. WWE was in Boston yesterday, presenting a live event, and her proximity to it is obviously what grabbed fans’ attention.
Feel free to hit us up on X @WrestlingHaus to let us know what you think Mone should do in WWE if she returns.