Last year, Sasha Banks and Naomi walked out of WWE after being frustrated with the creative direction. In January, Banks made her NJPW debut as Mercedes Mone at Wrestle Kingdom 17.
Mercedes Mone last competed at Resurgence, where she lost to Willow Nightingale for the inaugural NJPW Strong Women’s Championship. Mone suffered an ankle injury during the bout. She is currently recovering from surgery.
Last August, the former IWGP Women’s Champion attended the AEW All In. Many expect that she will be joining Tony Khan’s company. However, she and WWE recently negotiated for a return.
Fightful Select reported that Mercedes Mone and WWE are “no longer in active negotiations regarding a return.” They added that the WWE side walked out of contract negotiation. Mone has a very high asking price that is above Charlotte Flair’s new WWE deal. A source told Fightful Select that “she would end up appearing elsewhere imminently.”
BWE also confirmed Fightful’s report and stated, “very accurate. Negotiations are part of the business. Could change in seconds for everyone involved. Interest is still there. A game of chess.”