AEW Was Reportedly In Talks With Mercedes Mone About Forbidden Door Before Her Injury

Mercedes Moné is currently out with an ankle injury after an unfortunate mishap during her NJPW Strong Women's Championship match against Willow Nightingale at New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Resurgence event, and it appears her injury didn't just wreak havoc on NJPW's plans, but AEW's as well.

Sports Illustrated is reporting there were "significant discussions" between AEW President Tony Khan and Moné, with an additional report from Fightful Select confirming that Khan was specifically interested in bringing the former IWGP Women's Champion to the company for the second cross-promotional Forbidden Door pay-per-view, which takes place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on June 25.

The Fightful report says that Khan and Moné were talking about Forbidden Door as far back as January, not long after she debuted in NJPW. There was no word on how far talks between the two parties went, though Fightful did mention that there had been unconfirmed rumors of Moné wrestling Saraya.

NJPW confirmed that Moné will be out for a considerable amount of time and will miss the Forbidden Door PPV. Moné was likely to be the inaugural NJPW Strong Women's Champion but her aforementioned ankle injury caused the finish of the title match to be changed, with Nightingale winning it instead. Before her injury, Moné spoke fondly of her new home in Japan, saying she was determined to prove herself in both NJPW and STARDOM.

"I'm embracing the way of life," she said back in April. "I'm riding the train. I'm eating the food. I'm not here for a quick second."