Report: AEW, Mercedes Moné Had 'Significant Discussions' Before NJPW Star's Injury

AEW reportedly had "significant discussions" with Mercedes Moné about appearing at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door on June 25, per Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated.

Any potential appearance would have been shelved after Moné reportedly suffered a broken ankle in a championship match against Willow Nightingale to crown New Japan Pro Wrestling Resurgence's first-ever STRONG Women's Champion on May 21.

Barrasso added more information about Moné's reported potential involvement at Forbidden Door, noting that such conversations could lead to a "potential appearance in the future."

"The only way Forbidden Door could have been bigger would have been by adding a superstar presence in Mercedes Moné. While Khan would not definitively comment on whether she would have been part of the card, any such plans were derailed last month when she broke her ankle in a match against Willow Nightingale to crown the first NJPW Strong women's champion.

"Multiple sources close to Khan have confirmed that there were significant discussions with Moné, which bodes well for a potential appearance in the future."

Moné wrestled under the name Sasha Banks for WWE from 2012-2022. She began at NXT for two years before making her main roster debut on Dec. 30, 2014. Her accolades include five WWE Raw Women's Championship titles, three WWE Women's Tag Team Championship titles and the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship.

Her tenure with WWE ended in 2022 after a breakdown in talks regarding compensation, per Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Jamie Ross of Wrestle Purists).

"She and WWE did not reach terms for a new contract. WWE directly wouldn't say anything about her but those in the company over recent months had said the sides were not close on money. She and WWE reached an agreement in the summer regarding her leaving and the agreement was they would release her to be a free agent rather than freeze her deal, but she couldn't do anything with wrestling until the start of 2023. In the fall, with the regime change, she was back in negotiations to return and it was considered that it was close to a done deal, aside from the money figure, and the two sides ended up being far apart."

Moné made her debut at NJPW on Jan. 4 and began wrestling for the promotion on Feb. 18, winning the IWGP women's title against KAIRI.

For now, Moné is recovering from her ankle injury, and there's at least some optimism it isn't as bad as initially feared, per Fightful Select (h/t Aidan Gibbons of Cultaholic).

"It was initially believed that Moné sustained a broken ankle but Fightful Select has since reported that NJPW are under the impression that Moné suffered a severe sprain, but not a break. Those close to Moné, however, have said she definitely sustained a sprain but there are fears of a break. There was too much swelling to know for sure, though, and more will be revealed when the swelling around the ankle goes down."

Hopefully Moné returns to the ring healthy as soon as possible.

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