Mercedes Mone Reportedly Still Working With NJPW, More Details On Her AEW Signing

Last night's "AEW Dynamite: Big Business" special saw Mercedes Mone officially become All Elite. "The CEO" made her debut for Tony Khan's promotion after weeks of speculation, with Fightful's sources suggesting that Mone has inked a multi-year contract. According to prior reports, Mone signed that deal in January.

Meanwhile, NJPW hopes to continue working with the former IWGP Women's Champion. Mone, who walked out on WWE with Naomi in May 2022, debuted for NJPW at Wrestle Kingdom 17 last year. It was written in the Fightful report that the Japanese promotion "expects" to be a part of Mone's AEW deal. Since January, NJPW has believed that they will be able to use Mone in a significant way in the future. Mone's most recent NJPW appearance occurred last May, when she sustained an ankle injury during the finals of the NJPW STRONG Women's Championship Tournament. Moving forward, NJPW hopes to "pick up where they left off" with Mone, although AEW would ultimately be her top priority.

Regarding Mone's AEW debut, Fightful was told on different occasions that AEW boss Khan was against the idea of having Mone appear with the aid of crutches or a walking boot. He ultimately didn't want to "set up fans for something" that wouldn't happen until further down the line. Nevertheless, there were said to be discussions about Mone debuting earlier this year, with January 3 and 10 touted as potential dates, but the former WWE star was not close to being medically cleared at that time.