Ever since leaving WWE last year, Mercedes Mone has been heavily linked with AEW. Despite all of the rumours surrounding her potential debut for the promotion, it is yet to happen.
However, her decision to head to NJPW and STARDOM where she became the IWGP Women’s Champion has left an All Elite opportunity very much on the table due to the working relationship between the American and Japanese promotions.
Last year AEW and NJPW held their first-ever inter-promotional pay-per-view Forbidden Door. The event saw stars from both companies compete in never-seen-before matches such as Will Ospreay vs. Orange Cassidy and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jon Moxley for the Interim World Championship.
The announcement of Forbidden Door 2 came on June 25th and led many fans to believe the event could be the perfect place for Mone to make her AEW in-ring debut. But at NJPW’s recent U.S. event, Resurgence, those beliefs were left in tatters when Mone had to be helped out of the ring and carried backstage after her match.
During the main event of the show to crown the inaugural NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship, Mone suffered an ankle injury, which resulted in the winner of the match being changed on the fly thus forcing creative plans to be altered.
Was Mercedes Mone Planned To Appear At Forbidden Door 2?
Now, it appears that not only did Mone’s injury cause last-minute changes in the match but has possibly postponed her All Elite debut at the cross-promotional event.
According to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, multiple sources close to Tony Khan have revealed that there were “significant discussions” with the artist formerly known as Sasha Banks about a potential appearance in the future.
The timing of the talks suggests that a deal to bring her in for the upcoming PPV was certainly plausible but the unfortunate injury means fans will have to wait a little bit longer for that elusive Mone appearance.
Despite Mone not being able to wrestle at the June 25th PPV, dream matches such as Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay for the IWGP United States Championship have been confirmed.
Recently Tony Khan spoke about why Mercedes Mone was in the crowd at AEW All In.