Persephone has plenty of immediate business demanding her attention, but she is not dismissing the possibility of a third match with AEW Women’s World Champion Mercedes Mone.
The reigning AEW TBS Champion and CMLL World Women’s Champion has already built a significant history with Mone. The two have met twice, splitting those encounters at one victory apiece. Persephone’s win over Mone earlier this year carried major championship implications, as it saw her capture the CMLL World Women’s Title. With their record even, a rubber match between two of the most prominent names across AEW and CMLL would have obvious stakes whenever it comes together.
For now, Persephone says she has other challengers to address before returning to the issue of Mone. That has not stopped her from taking aim at the reigning AEW Women’s World Champion, while also recognizing the stature Mone has earned through her career.
“I think we can’t shy past everything she’s done, the history she’s made, right? The career she’s built. It’s obviously an impressive one,” Persephone said. “But for you, she now finally circled back around and finally won the title that she couldn’t win over and over and over again. What a loser. But she finally won it. Good for her. Real proud of her.”
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The remarks combine respect for Mone’s accomplishments with the kind of pointed confidence that has become central to Persephone’s presentation. Mone’s current status as AEW Women’s World Champion gives her a target on one of the company’s biggest stages, while Persephone possesses championships of her own and a prior victory that ensures she can speak about the matchup from experience rather than aspiration.
Persephone did not suggest that Mone has escaped her attention. Instead, she framed a potential rematch as a matter of timing. In her view, the growing number of rivals around her needs to be handled before she focuses on the opponent she sees as the more personal objective.
“I think I need to put a little nail in each coffin before I can circle back around to what really bothers me, you know, to what I really want, because I’ve beaten her once,” Persephone said. “We have each other’s number right now. I’ve beaten her once. I can get her again. No biggie. But we’re going to wait because again, all these little girls are just bugging me.”
That waiting period will not be quiet. Persephone recently competed on AEW Dynamite: Rebel Heart in a six-woman tag team match. She joined Dr. Britt Baker and Hikaru Shida against Hyan, Maya World, and Thunder Rosa. Persephone, Baker, and Shida were victorious, adding another win to a crowded women’s division where established stars and emerging challengers are all angling for position.
Her CMLL schedule is equally demanding. Persephone is set to defend the CMLL World Women’s Championship at the CMLL 93rd Anniversary Show on September 18. The title will be on the line in a Fatal 4-Way match against Mina Shirakawa, Tessa Blanchard, and Starlight Kid. It is a particularly difficult defense, as Persephone does not have to be pinned or submitted by every challenger to lose the championship. One decisive fall can change the entire landscape of the division.
A Champion Carrying Two Paths
Persephone’s current position reflects a career built between wrestling scenes rather than inside a single lane. She is active in AEW while holding one of CMLL’s top women’s prizes, and she has spoken openly about the importance of the regions that shaped her identity: El Paso and Juarez.
That connection is also why Eddie Guerrero holds special significance for her. Guerrero was born in El Paso and became a defining figure whose reputation extended across Mexico and the United States. Before his rise as a major star in the United States, Guerrero developed his name in Mexico, including wrestling in Arena Mexico. Persephone sees meaningful parallels between that route and the path she has taken while representing the borderland.
“I’m not on Eddie’s level yet,” Persephone said. “I don’t know that anyone is, but to start building a name and climbing up there to the point where El Paso itself is recognizing someone that is, like, you know, following in those footsteps, and it’s kind of building a career after he built something so great is honestly freaking cool.”
She noted that Guerrero’s story resonated with her not simply because of his El Paso roots, but because of how he represented both sides of the border. For Persephone, Juarez and El Paso remain home even after spending years away from the area.
“When you’re born on the border, you really go back and forth, and you’re representing the border town, which is both the city on one side and on the other,” Persephone said. “I think he did an extremely good job of representing both cities. And to know that I’d like to think I’m following a similar path of always putting those two cities, Juarez and El Paso, on the map and never really shying away from, yeah, I haven’t lived there in so many years, right? Because I’ve been out here, but those are still my home, and those are still the cities that I’m going to represent always.”
That perspective helps explain why Persephone’s ambitions are broad. Her championship pursuits are not limited to a single promotion, and neither is her vision of what success looks like. Working across AEW and CMLL gives her a platform in two wrestling environments with distinct histories and audiences. Her reign as CMLL World Women’s Champion, especially after defeating Mone for the title, makes that connection even more visible.
Confidence at the Center of Persephone’s Rise
Persephone has not been subtle about believing she can become one of professional wrestling’s next breakout superstars. She traces that belief back well before her time in the ring. She discussed competing in Olympic wrestling and participating in other sports, while also emphasizing that academic success gave her another indication that she could excel in whatever direction she chose.
Losses and setbacks, she said, could be painful in the moment. They did not change her underlying conviction that disciplined work and self-belief would eventually lead her to success. That conviction is now part of her identity as a performer.
“I’ve always known that I’m just that good,” Persephone said. “There were moments where, obviously, if I lost in Olympic wrestling, if I lost a tournament, or there were other sports I did, if it just wasn’t my day and I messed up, obviously, didn’t go home feeling so great. But at the end of the day, it never changed the fact that I just always felt like” she would succeed in the path she selected.
She believes that confidence is necessary in a profession where wrestlers must persuade an audience to invest in their personalities, goals, and performances. In her estimation, having natural charisma or an elusive “it factor” is not enough if a performer does not fully trust their own potential.
“You can have aura, you can have it, that it factor that people just love, but if you yourself don’t actually believe it, if you yourself don’t know that, like you know you’re not telling yourself, ‘Oh yeah, I am that great. I am it,’ if you’re not believing it, I feel like people won’t believe it either,” Persephone said. “Because if you don’t believe it, no one else will.”
It is a philosophy that fits the way Persephone has approached both Mone and the rest of the competition around her. She is willing to acknowledge Mone’s history, but she is equally willing to emphasize that she has already beaten the AEW Women’s World Champion. She is preparing for a four-way title defense in CMLL, while also standing among AEW’s strongest women as its TBS Champion.
A third match with Mone has not been announced, and the immediate focus is on Persephone’s active championship obligations. Still, the 1-1 series creates a clear unresolved thread. If Persephone gets through the crowded field in front of her and Mone remains atop AEW’s women’s division, their paths may be difficult to keep apart for long.
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.