Mercedes Mone is about to return to the ring for the first time since last May. She will be facing KAIRI for the IWGP Women’s Championship at Battle in the Valley for NJPW this Saturday.
Mone feels that the sky is literally the limit and the matches she can partake in are now endless as she is a free agent. She would like to face some STARDOM talent but she doesn’t want to stop there. She would even like to visit IMPACT to face the current Knockouts World Champion Mickie James. Despite sharing the ring on many occasions in WWE, the two women were not able to have a singles match.
While speaking with Scott Fishman of TV Insider, Mone had the following to say about her future –
“The thing is I’m a free agent. It doesn’t matter with New Japan. I can go anywhere. I can go to New Japan, IMPACT, Mexico, Germany, Europe. The potential matchups are endless. The same for New Japan. I know they have partnerships with CMLL, IMPACT, AEW. To be a fan and watch all these matchups from all parts of the world is amazing. I know there is a little woman in IMPACT I would love to face one day, Mickie James! We’ll see what is in the stars.“
On deciding to face KAIRI as her return match, she stated –
“I was really nervous to decide who would be my first opponent back in the ring because I was missing wrestling every single day the moment I was gone from it. When Kairi won the women’s championship, I thought could I? I never really had the match I wanted with her. She was the perfect one. She was everything I needed right now. It will be so magical when we touch. I’m just so honored and blessed for her to be my first opponent. It will be incredible. She is on the top of her game right now.”
When Mone debuted at NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom and challenged KAIRI she had both Trinity “Naomi” Fatu and Bayley backstage supporting her. She said the following of both of them being by her side.
“That meant everything to me. Wrestling is such a small tight-knit circle of friends you would call your friends and family. For those girls and my best friend Manny, Samuray Del Sol to fly all the way over to Japan from the United States to just cut a little promo. They did that because they knew how much it meant to me and that moment and how much I’ve been trying to decide what my next step in wrestling would be. It meant so much. It gave me more assurance that what I was doing was right because the time they took to spend their time with me. I love Bayley and Trinity so much because they are legit my sisters and tag team partners for life no matter what company we are working for.”
Check back in with Diva Dirt over the weekend to see the results on if Mone can dethrone KAIRI in her return to the ring!