Mercedes Moné’s AEW Women’s World Championship victory at All In was more than the latest title win of an already decorated career. For Moné, the championship-changing match against Willow Nightingale represented the culmination of a three-year journey, a return to Wembley with a transformed perspective, and another defining chapter in one of the most consequential rivalries in modern women’s wrestling.
Moné defeated Nightingale in the All In co-main event to capture the AEW Women’s World Championship. The result placed a major new accolade on Moné’s résumé, but it also came against the opponent who has repeatedly stood at the center of some of her most difficult and meaningful career moments.
Writing in her Mone Mag, Moné reflected on the scale of the occasion and the personal uncertainty she felt when she attended All In three years earlier. At that time, she was in a very different place professionally, watching AEW as a fan without certainty about what would come next in her wrestling career.
“Winning the AEW Women’s World Championship meant everything to me,” Moné wrote. “Three years earlier, I had been sitting at All In as a fan, unsure of where I stood in wrestling or where my career was going next.”
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That memory made the Wembley victory especially powerful. Moné recalled seeing AEW and feeling that it was the promotion where she belonged, even before the eventual path became clear. Returning to that same major event three years later as the new AEW Women’s World Champion was, in her words, an outcome she never could have imagined unfolding in that particular way.
A Rivalry Built Through Defining Moments
There was no more fitting opponent for Moné’s title victory than Nightingale. Their history has been marked by high stakes, championship implications, physical sacrifice, and momentum-shifting outcomes. Nightingale has been one of the few wrestlers repeatedly able to frustrate Moné on major stages, earning a reputation as a particularly difficult rival for “The CEO.”
Nightingale became the inaugural NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion by defeating Moné. Their history also includes Nightingale ending Moné’s historic reign as AEW TBS Champion. Those results ensured that the All In match was not simply another championship defense or a one-off meeting between two top stars. It was a collision shaped by prior defeats, prior injuries, and a long-standing competitive connection.
Moné acknowledged that recurring thread when discussing why this AEW Women’s World Championship match resonated so strongly. She wrote that she and Nightingale have continually found themselves “on opposite sides” of enormous moments in their careers. All In elevated that familiar dynamic to one of wrestling’s biggest possible stages.
Their rivalry has also become notable for how often injury has played a role in its most prominent chapters. The earlier NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship encounter remains a key point in their shared story because Moné suffered a broken heel during that match. While that contest resulted in Nightingale’s historic title win, Moné explained that the injury prevented her from realistically continuing at the level needed to carry a newly won championship.
“It’s ironic because the last time Willow and I fought for the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship, I broke my heel,” Moné wrote.
Moné said she could have attempted to keep going in that earlier situation, but questioned what that would truly have accomplished. In her view, winning a championship while unable to stand or defend it would not have served the title, the division, or the tournament process that had been needed to establish the inaugural champion.
That perspective adds another layer to the All In result. The AEW Women’s World Championship victory gave Moné a chance to finish a pivotal title match against Nightingale under drastically different circumstances. This time, she was hurt, but she felt she could still continue and compete.
Broken Nose, Blood, and a Decision to Keep Fighting
The All In match took an unexpected physical turn very early. Moné revealed that she broke her nose during the bout, resulting in a level of bleeding she said surpassed anything she had previously experienced in a wrestling match.
“Then, very early in the match, my nose broke,” Moné wrote. “There was so much blood. More than I had ever experienced in a match.”
Despite the broken nose and the blood pouring down her face, Moné completed the match and emerged with the AEW Women’s World Championship. Her decision to continue was not presented as a dismissal of the injury; rather, Moné contrasted the situation with the broken heel she suffered in the NJPW STRONG Women’s title match against Nightingale.
In London, Moné believed she remained capable of finishing the contest. The physical adversity was shared as well. Nightingale was competing with a broken hand, meaning both competitors entered or continued through the match with serious injuries affecting them.
Moné said neither wrestler was willing to let those injuries take away from the moment for which they had worked. She emphasized the trust between herself and Nightingale as a central reason they were able to continue and deliver a match she remains proud of.
“Willow was wrestling with a broken hand, and I had a broken nose with blood pouring down my face,” Moné wrote. “Neither of us was going to let our injuries take away from what we’d worked so hard for.”
That trust is a meaningful part of how Moné framed the bout. Rivalries often revolve around animosity, personal conflict, and the desire to prove superiority. While the competitive stakes between Moné and Nightingale were unmistakable, Moné’s reflection underscores the professional bond required for wrestlers to navigate an increasingly difficult match when both are physically compromised.
The result was a championship match that carried the accumulated weight of their past encounters. Nightingale’s victories over Moné had established her as a uniquely significant opponent. Moné’s All In victory did not erase that history; it added another major entry to it. The two have now traded defining championship moments across AEW and NJPW STRONG competition, with injuries playing a painful but undeniable role in both wrestlers’ stories.
From Wembley Spectator to AEW Women’s World Champion
Moné’s comments also provide a reminder of how quickly, and how dramatically, a wrestling career can change. Her earlier visit to All In came at a time when she did not know where her path would lead. She watched the event with a sense that AEW could be the right destination, but without all the answers about her future.
Three years later, she returned to Wembley not as an observer but as one of the central figures on the card. Capturing the AEW Women’s World Championship in the co-main event made that evolution impossible to overlook. The title win was not only a major achievement within AEW; it was the realization of a feeling Moné had when she first experienced All In from the crowd.
Her description of the victory as meaning “everything” reflects both the championship itself and the circumstances surrounding it. The setting was enormous, the opponent was deeply familiar, the physical challenge was immediate, and the journey to reach that point had been far from straightforward.
For Nightingale, the loss does not diminish her standing in the rivalry. She remains the first NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion and the wrestler who ended Moné’s lengthy AEW TBS Championship run. She also fought through a broken hand at All In, matching Moné’s determination to see their championship match through despite the physical toll.
For Moné, however, All In marked a defining new chapter. She left Wembley as AEW Women’s World Champion after overcoming an opponent who has so often represented a major obstacle in her career. The win supplied a measure of redemption from their NJPW STRONG title encounter while establishing Moné at the top of AEW’s women’s division.
Marina Shafir Awaits at Full Gear
With the All In victory now part of her championship legacy, Moné’s attention turns to her next defense. She is set to put the AEW Women’s World Championship on the line against Marina Shafir at AEW Full Gear.
The upcoming match presents the first major test of Moné’s reign following the emotional and physically demanding encounter with Nightingale. Moné will enter Full Gear as champion, carrying the momentum of a landmark Wembley triumph but also the responsibility that comes with being the woman every challenger is now trying to defeat.
Her reflections on All In make clear that the title is not something she views as a decorative achievement. Moné’s experience in the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship match shaped how she thinks about a champion’s ability to compete and defend the prize. At Wembley, she believed she could continue despite a broken nose. Now, as AEW Women’s World Champion, she will look to prove that she can sustain the reign after one of the most personal victories of her career.
Moné and Nightingale’s All In meeting will remain an important moment in their shared history: a championship-changing match between rivals whose careers have repeatedly intersected at pivotal points, fought through broken bones and heavy blood loss, and decided on one of wrestling’s grandest stages.
Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.