Mercedes Moné’s world domination tour has hit a speed bump. The former Sasha Banks injured her ankle during her match with Willow Nightingale to crown the inaugural NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion at NJPW Resurgence last month, leading to Nightingale getting the unscheduled victory. The timing of Moné’s injury squashed hope of the multi-time women’s champion appearing at the upcoming AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view, an event that she was reportedly having discussions to wrestle at. With ankle injuries typically taking upwards of six weeks to heal, Moné likely won’t be back in the ring until July at the earliest. That said, she is well on her way to recovery.
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Taking to Instagram Stories, Moné shared an image of her injured ankle heavily wrapped, captioning the post, “Day 6 recovery.” There is no confirmation that Moné underwent surgery, but this image has led to speculation. Foot-related surgeries usually take anywhere from 3-4 months to heal.
Since returning to wrestling this past January, Moné has kept herself busy in the Far East. Moné made her official New Japan debut at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17, confronting then-IWGP Women’s Champion KAIRI. This set up a match between the two a couple of weeks later, which resulted in Moné dethroning her former WWE foe for the title. Moné held the prize for just two months before dropping it to Mayu Iwatani.
Plans then appeared to shift to having Moné lead the women’s division on NJPW’s American brand, NJPW STRONG, as reports emerged that the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship was created specifically for Moné. There is no word on how long-term plans have shifted due to Moné’s injury, but Nightingale holds the title in the meantime and has been making defenses on both AEW and Ring of Honor TV.
Recent rumblings indicated that AEW was looking to have Moné face Saraya at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door. This would have rekindled their WWE history, as Moné infamously delivered the dropkick to the former Paige’s back that sent her into a five-year retirement. Saraya made her in-ring return this past November, defeating Dr. Britt Baker DMD at AEW Full Gear in her first match since 2017.
Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for updates on Moné’s recovery as well as her future in both NJPW and AEW.
