Bushiroad, the company that houses NJPW & STARDOM were reportedly interested in bringing in Trinity Fatu (formerly known in WWE as Naomi), but felt it would cost too much as the company is under pressure to keep costs down, which is also a factor in negotiations with Mercedes Monè.
On January 4, fans were stunned to see the former Sasha Banks make her way down the ramp at WrestleKingdom to confront Kairi under her new alias of Mercedes Mone. The 31-year-old has since won the IWGP Women’s Championship and defended it successfully against both AZM and Hazuki in a triple threat.
However, it’s currently unclear how long Mercedes will spend in Japan with there being multiple differing rumours about her contract length. Dave Meltzer has attempted to clarify the situation in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter by stating that Bushiroad are currently finding it difficult to commit to a longer deal with Mone due to financial constraints that are still being felt following the pandemic. Also, it’s noted that the company were interested in signing Trinity Fatu (FKA Naomi) but it was deemed likely to cost too much.
“The hard part about a longer commitment is that Bushiroad’s wrestling division, even though Stardom has grown greatly, has overall taken a major financial hit because of New Japan’s declines related to the pandemic, even with New Japan World up. Because of that, the wrestling division is under pressure to keep spending down. An example is that they were told they could bring in Trinity Fatu, but it was felt it would cost too much for the return and thus far hadn’t made that deal.”
-WON
Many will be very hopeful that Mercedes prolongs her stay in Japan and ticks off a myriad of dream matches. As of now, her next outing will come on April 23 when she battled Stardom icon Mayu Iwatani over the IWGP Women’s Championship.
As for Trinity, she has been engaging in online interactions with Stardom wrestlers such as Mina Shirakawa and Mariah May but it’s unclear whether she will eventually join them in the company.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any updates on both Mercedes’ contract situation and the potential signing of Trinity Fatu as we hear more.
