Willow Nightingale shares honest opinion on Mercedes Moné in AEW (Exclusive)
Mercedes Moné defeated Willow Nightingale in her first AEW match at Double or Nothing 2024 on May 26. In an exclusive interview, Nightingale gave her thoughts on how her former opponent has settled into working for the company.
Moné has been among the most featured wrestlers on AEW programming in recent months. The 32-year-old has held the AEW TBS Championship since defeating Nightingale. She also captured the NJPW Strong Women's Championship from Stephanie Vaquer at Forbidden Door on June 30.
Nightingale spoke highly of Moné when Sportskeeda Wrestling Senior Editor Bill Apter asked if she thinks the double champion is living up to the hype. She also revealed that Moné's NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn battle with Bayley in 2015 is one of her favorite matches:
"I believe so [Moné is living up to the hype]," Nightingale said. "I think she is great. She is somebody who, whether I like it or not because she is, at the end of the day, competition, she has kinda helped shape the current landscape of women's wrestling. I think she had a match that blew a lot of people's minds. It is probably one of, if not my favorite match of all time versus Bayley at TakeOver: Brooklyn. I watched that match and I think I was just starting out wrestling. My mother's not a wrestling fan. I made her watch it. I said, 'You have to see this!' She was like, 'You know what, it's good. If it's good, it's good.'" [6:22 – 7:12]
A year before their Double or Nothing 2024 match, Willow Nightingale defeated Mercedes Moné to win the NJPW Strong Women's Championship. The Conglomeration member applauded Moné for continuing to test herself after a strong start to life in the wrestling business. She also teased the possibility of another one-on-one match:
"You could have that [early success] and that's it and that's enough and that's who you are, but she's not that," Nightingale added. "She came to AEW and she said, 'No, I'm sorry, I'm gonna show you guys exactly why I got to where I am and why I am The CEO.' But, you know what, she may have beat me in our most recent encounter, but I have beaten her before. So, her weakness, I have her number, I know what it is, and I think with the experience that I've gained since the first time I wrestled her, I'm a very different person, even from the last time I wrestled her." [7:18 – 7:51]
Watch the video above to hear Nightingale discuss several AEW topics, from Jamie Hayter and Mercedes Moné to Mariah May and Toni Storm.
Willow Nightingale on Mercedes Moné's partnership with Kamille
On July 24, the imposing Kamille made her AEW debut at Blood & Guts and formed an alliance with Mercedes Moné.
Willow Nightingale acknowledged that a possible betrayal could take place between the two one day. For now, however, she thinks the partnership works:
"I definitely think that's [break-up] possible but I think anyone who's walking into our division, I think we have a stacked division, we have a bunch of talented hard-working and hard-hitting women, and any time you are walking into a landscape like that and you have somebody who's willing to kind of show you the ropes, whatever you want to do with that, whether you want to be very sportsmanlike or not, that's your choice, but I think it's a smart thing to learn from somebody who can kinda feel out what's what." [8:40 – 9:22]
On September 7, Willow Nightingale will face Kris Statlander in a Chicago Street Fight at AEW All Out. At the same event, Kamille will be banned from ringside when Mercedes Moné defends the AEW TBS Championship against Hikaru Shida.
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