AEW's Willow Nightingale Claims World Title Vacated By New WWE Star Stephanie Vaquer

By Samantha Schipman
Willow Nightingale posing AEW/Lee South

Less than two months since she lost the AEW TBS Championship to Mercedes Moné at Double or Nothing 2024, Willow Nightingale finds herself holding gold once again — though it's gold that belongs to another promotion. On Saturday, Nightingale defeated Viva Van and Lluvia at the crossover show NJPW x CMLL Fantastica Mania to win the vacant CMLL World Women's Championship.

The result is notable due to the circumstances surrounding the title's previously vacated status. On Wednesday, CMLL announced that it had stripped Stephanie Vaquer of her CMLL World Women's and Women's World Tag Team Championships, as she was leaving both CMLL and NJPW. She had already lost the NJPW STRONG Women's Championship to Moné at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, the match that reportedly caught the eye of Vaquer's new employer, WWE. With Vaquer unable to compete at Fantastica Mania due to her newfound WWE obligations, a new match for Saturday was announced between Lluvia, NJPW Academy's Viva Van, and AEW's Nightingale. Many fans expected Lluvia to win, she she's the only signed CMLL talent of the three and was Vaquer's original Fantastica Mania opponent, but "The Babe With The Power" carried the day, making her the first woman to hold titles in AEW, NJPW, and CMLL.

"Not bad for a chubby weirdo dork from Long Island," Nightingale posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), adding after the fact, "I say this with self-love and adoration."

In her post-match comments, Nightingale reminded fans that the last time she was in CMLL was also her first time, and she picked up a victory. "I beat the current CMLL Women's Champion at that point, Stephanie Vaquer," she proclaimed. "Stephanie's not here, championship's vacant. Who's going to step up? No one else but Willow Nightingale. Duh." 

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