We now have confirmation that Mercedes Moné was set to win the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship before sustaining an injury.
This past Sunday at NJPW Resurgence, an inaugural NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion was crowned, with AEW and ROH’s Willow Nightingale emerging victorious after defeating both Momo Kohgo and Mercedes Moné in a tournament that also involved Stephanie Vaquer.
Prior to an apparent ankle/foot injury sustained by Moné, many had expected the former IWGP Women’s Champion to capture the new championship, and it now appears as though we have confirmation that this was the case, as Dave Meltzer recently stated during Wrestling Observer Radio that NJPW created the title for Moné, and that the planned finish was changed following her injury.
“Just to confirm it, the NJPW STRONG (Womens) Championship was actually made.. the title was created for her (Mercedes Moné). It wasn’t like there’d even be a championship if she wasn’t going to win it. So Willow winning it changed everything and she obviously made the decision during the match at the finish after she got injured that she wasn’t gonna be able to continue.”
-Dave Meltzer
As of writing, we’re yet to hear of any official confirmation regarding the extent of Moné’s injury, although it appeared to occur following a bad landing to the outside of the ring.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Mercedes Moné’s injury status, and we wish her all the best in her recovery.
