AEW star Mercedes Moné (fka Sasha Banks) surprisingly shows up in major promotion
Top AEW star Mercedes Mone (fka Sasha Banks) has made an unexpected appearance in a major wrestling promotion. The company in question is Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL).
The CEO has been on a roll since winning her first singles title in All Elite Wrestling at Double or Nothing 2024, where she defeated Willow Nightingale to become the new TBS Champion. Her first defense came on the episode of Dynamite following the pay-per-view against Skye Blue. After the bout, Mone would be confronted by a former rival in Stephanie Vaquer, who currently holds the NJPW Strong Women's Title.
Since then, AEW has announced that Mercedes Mone will go one-on-one against Vaquer at Forbidden Door 2024 in a title-for-title match. Ahead of their bout in the pay-per-view later this month, The Boss defeated La Primera's tag team partner Zeuxis, retaining the TBS Championship against the latter on the June 12, 2024, episode of Dynamite.
On the other hand, Vaquer defended the NJPW Strong Women's Championship against La Catalina at a CMLL show emanating from Arena Mexico on June 21, 2024. After the bout, the reigning World Women's Champion of the Mexico City-based promotion was confronted by Mercedes Mone.
The former IWGP Women's Champion entered the ring and complimented her Forbidden Door opponent, praising her growth since their last go-around at NJPW Resurgence 2023. However, she promised to overcome Vaquer in the UBS Arena, leading the latter to fire back at the AEW star on the mic. This prompted Mone to slap Vaquer, leading to a short brawl that would be broken up. Mone briefly posed with both the TBS and NJPW Strong Women's Titles before leaving the ring.
Other Title matches for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2024
All Elite Wrestling, in collaboration with NJPW, will host the third iteration of the Forbidden Door Pay-Per-View on June 30, 2024. The event is set to feature stars from several companies, including AEW, New Japan, Stardom and CMLL. A number of title matches have been announced for the pay-per-view card already in addition to the bout between Mercedes Mone and Stephanie Vaquer.
The TNT Title will be on the line in a Ladder Match, involving Dante Martin, Lio Rush, Jack Perry, Konosuke Takeshita, ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe and one more as-yet undetermined participant. Jon Moxley is set to defend his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against the man he won it from, Tetsuya Naito.
Also, Swerve Strickland will square off against International Champion Will Ospreay to defend the AEW World Title, and Toni Storm will put her Women's World Championship on the line against Stardom's Mina Shirakawa.
Furthermore, NJPW World Television Champion Jeff Cobb has also expressed his interest in defending his belt at the event, although nobody from the AEW roster has accepted his open challenge as of yet.
It remains to be seen if and how any of these various titles will change hands at Forbidden Door 2024.