For almost a year, Mercedes Mone has been a dual championship holder across AEW and NJPW until this past weekend’s Resurgence event. On that New Japan Pro-Wrestling show in Ontario, California, the top AEW Superstar ended up dropping her Women’s NJPW Strong Championship, and she believes that she didn’t legit lose that belt.
After AZM walked away with the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship at Resurgence, Mercedes Mone vented her frustrations to Denise Salcedo in her first interview since the loss, making it clear she’s unhappy about how things turned out on that night, not in her favor.
“I’m really sad,” Mercedes Mons said. “This is my first interview as Rebounce Mone because we were backstage at New Japan Resurgence after my main event. After I put this company on the map, I made this company money. And did you see what happened out there? I got scre*ed. I’m pis*ed. I’m pis*ed off.”
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Despite not being in possession of the title, Mercedes Mone reminded everyone she wasn’t the one who got pinned in the triple threat match, and henceforth, she never lost the belt in the first place. As such, she’s still trying to process the loss, saying, “I’m a little pent up with aggression right now, but I’m going to relax. I’m going to re-plan. I’m going to regroup.” (quotes courtesy Ringside News)
Mercedes Mone technically never lost NJPW Strong Women’s Title
A fan rubbed salt in the wound by telling Mercedes Mone that he hated to see her lose, prompting her to snap back, “I didn’t lose.” Now, with the NJPW Strong Women’s Title out of her hands, she is left in a regrouping phase and the speculation is that she would eventually reach the top women’s title scenario in due course as the AEW Owen Hart Cup tournament women’s division finale match is waiting for her at Double or Nothing 2025.
Coming out of the 2025 edition of the NJPW Resurgence event, AZM is the new champion, defeating Mercedes Mone and Mina Shirakawa in the main event of the show in a three-way match. The finish saw Shirakawa throwing the former champion out of the ring as AZM gained the advantage and was successful in pinning Shirakawa after several attempts.
As you can see, Shirakawa is the one who’s technically lost the match, and Mercedes Mone was never actually pinned. With reports flying in that Shirakawa is AEW-bound, imminently, speculations are that she could be up for a feud with the TBS Champion for being the reason why the NJPW Strong Women’s Title changed hands at Resurgence.