Mercedes Moné NJPW Contract Update
Mercedes Moné recently agreed to a newer deal with New Japan Pro Wrestling while the company did something just for her as well.
At NJPW Wrestle Kingdom on January 4th, Mercedes Moné made a splash as she made her debut in the company. It was her first time appearing for a major wrestling promotion that wasn’t WWE. She spent a decade competing in WWE as Sasha Banks before moving on last May due to frustrations with the creative direction of the company.
Since then, Moné has captured and lost the IWGP Women’s Championship while rumors have continued about what her future is with New Japan.
Last Sunday at NJPW Resurgence in Long Beach, California, Mercedes Moné reached the finals of a tournament to crown the first NJPW Strong Women’s Champion. Unfortunately, for Mone, she suffered an ankle injury during a match with AEW’s Willow Nightingale.
According to PWInsider, Mone was going to win the title in that match, but due to her injury and a potentially broken ankle, Nightingale became the NJPW Strong Women’s Champion.
In an update on Mercedes Mone’s contract status, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that she agreed to a longer-term deal while noting that the NJPW Strong Women’s Title was created for her.
“Moné 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.”
Due to AEW’s Willow Nightingale winning the NJPW Strong Women’s Title, the company decided to show highlights of her win on Dynamite, which meant that Mercedes Mone was shown on AEW Dynamite for the first time.