Moné is ready to get to Battle in the Valley.
For the first time since mid-2022, Mercedes Moné is going to be in action when she challenges KAIRI for the IWGP Women’s Championship at NJPW Battle in the Valley.
Mercedes arrived to New Japan Pro-Wrestling at Wrestle Kingdom 17 and took out KAIRI after a successful title defense. Ahead of tomorrow’s event, Mercedes chatted with Phil Strum of Under the Ring and expressed how excited she is.
She stated that she’s been prepping for it for months and is ready to get it done.
It’s incredible, it’s an honor (to be in this match at Battle in the Valley). I’m still having a hard time processing that it’s all real but it is because it’s tomorrow and I’ve been waiting for this for months but, I am so excited that my first match back in nine months is against KAIRI, who is absolutely one of the best wrestlers in the whole world. We are going to be headlining tomorrow night at the San Jose Civic Center for Battle in the Valley and this is a dream come true. I’ve been preparing for this match for the past couple of months and I’m just ready to go, I’m ready to go do this match, I’m ready to get it over with. I had the same feelings that I had at Wrestle Kingdom where I’m just like, oh my God! Can it just come? Can it just go past already? But I’m ready to enjoy every moment in this magical time in my career and I’m so ready for tomorrow.
While thinking about what could be in store for her this year, Moné thinks she’s more excited for this year of her pro wrestling career than any other.
I’m still a student of the game, I’m not done learning. I still wanna wrestle the best, I still wanna have the greatest matches of all time and I think with the STARDOM women, I can do that. There’s so many women that I’ve been watching that I’m just like, ‘Wow. We can create magic. I can create magic with her, I can do something with her.’ I think for this year, I am the most excited about my wrestling career that I’ve possibly ever been.
To prepare for the match with KAIRI, Mercedes trained with Amazing Red. She added that a lot of people take from Red without even knowing and feels he does not get the credit he deserves.
When it comes to any big matches, I always go to train with him. I actually got to train with him this past weekend to get ready for me versus KAIRI because he is such a master of the game and he is one of my last mentors that I — he’s a legend. He’s a legend that doesn’t get the credit that he deserves and so many people steal from Amazing Red and steal his style without even knowing. He is an underground legend that deserves all the flowers in the world and he’s just amazing. Simply amazing.
KAIRI shared an image on social media of herself and Hiroshi Tanahashi arriving to San Francisco, California for Battle in the Valley. Tanahashi is challenging Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
Mercedes did confirm that she’ll be performing in Tokyo in April.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Under the Ring with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
