AEW News & Rumor Roundup: Unexpected debut at WrestleMania 41, Mercedes Mone to call Bayley after snub? Seth Rollins' Jon Moxley surprise
Welcome to another edition of Sportskeeda Wrestling's AEW News and Rumor roundup. Today, we're going to take a look at news stories involving Mercedes Mone, Seth Rollins, Jon Moxley, and more.
Former AEW talent makes his debut at WrestleMania 41. Former WWE performer makes a huge announcement amid absence. Mercedes Mone drops a cryptic tease after Bayley gets ruled out of WrestleMania 41. So, without any further ado, let's dive into all of these stories.
#5. Former AEW talent debuts at WrestleMania 41
Former AEW talent El Hijo Del Vikingo made his WWE debut at WrestleMania 41. He is currently signed with the Mexican promotion, AAA. However, ahead of The Show of Shows, it was announced that the Stamford-based juggernaut had acquired AAA.
Vikingo was shown sitting in the crowd during Rey Fenix's match against El Grande Americano on Night One, where the latter defeated Fenix. After the match, the former AEW star entered the ring to check on Rey, marking his official WWE debut.
#4. Mercedes Mone drops a cryptic tease after Bayley gets ruled out of WrestleMania 41
Ahead of Night One of WrestleMania, it was revealed that Bayley had been attacked by someone backstage. Even though it looked like it was the work of Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, it was never confirmed. The Role Model has now been ruled out for her tag team match tonight, with Lyra Valkyria needing to find a new partner.
It was reported that Bayley's injury is part of the storyline, and it was planned for some time. Mercedes Mone seemingly took notice of these events and sent a few emojis on X/Twitter to her close friend, hinting that she's waiting for a call from the former WWE Women's Champion.
#3. Seth Rollins namedropped a ghost from Roman Reigns' past at WrestleMania 41
The main event of WrestleMania Saturday saw CM Punk, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins give it their all in a stunning closer to the show. During one point in the match, while Punk was out of the ring, Rollins would have a word with The Tribal Chief.
The Visionary would try to convince his former Shield brother to work with him and take down The Best in the World. He told Reigns that if they joined forces, they could remove CM Punk entirely from the situation. However, the OTC wouldn't listen to him at all.
Rollins would once again try to get on the same side with him and urged Reigns to listen to him. During this exchange, he would name-drop the current AEW World Champion, Jon Moxley, by stating that Reigns didn't have anyone by his side to help him.
"You don't know, you never know, that's why I am here. You're without him, you're without me, you're without Mox, you're without your Bloodline, ofcourse, you don't know."
#2. Former AEW performer makes huge announcement amid absence
Kota Ibushi has appeared several times in AEW to help his friend Kenny Omega during his wars against other factions. He has been a major part of storylines as well in the promotion.
He has been absent from the ring to recover from major injuries. He recently revealed on Instagram that he has lost 12 kgs and has been working on perfecting the Phoenix Splash so that he can perform it flawlessly without it leading to injuries again.
Ibushi also stated that he has gotten his visa again, which hints at the possibility that he could return to foreign soil. A rough translation from the post is down below:
"#Heavyweight backflip #It's been years since I last did it, I was shocked lol #I'll be 43 next month #Finally recovered #Miraculous phoenix splash since the accident #Still only 45 points If I try, I can do it. It's been how many years since I last did this....I won't run away, I won't lose, I won't give up!!! I've finally received my visa, so maybe it's finally time!?!? Now, let's enjoy some pro wrestling!" Ibushi wrote.
#1. Update on WWE's acquisition of AAA
During the Countdown to WrestleMania show, WWE announced the acquisition of AAA. The Worlds Collide event, featuring NXT and AAA, was also revealed during the show, set to take place on June 7, 2025, at the Kia Forum.
Fightful recently revealed that talks about AAA having new partners had been ongoing for years. However, once the UFC and WWE merger happened, the possibility of partnering with the Stamford-based company opened up.
There had been conversations between the two promotions for quite some time as well. Many of the sources stated that WWE has kept this partnership close to the vest and believes it was finalized after AEW and CMLL announced their arena show.