Willow Nightingale is an AEW champion for the first time in her career and already has her first title defense lined up.
Nightingale dethroned Julia Hart on Sunday night, scoring a powerbomb to defeat Julia Hart and become the new TBS Champion. The match, which took place at the Dynasty pay-per-view event in St. Louis, Missouri, ended Hart’s 156-day reign as champ, which started at Full Gear last year and included eight appearances with the title on the line.
Just moments after Nightingale captured the title, her first big fight as a defending champ was confirmed. Recent AEW signing Mercedes Moné came to the ring after the match to face off with Nightingale. It was then announced that they would meet for the title as part of AEW Double or Nothing on May 26 from Las Vegas, Nevada.
The upcoming clash, which will be Moné’s first since joining the AEW roster earlier this year, is a rematch from 2023. Nightingale overcame Moné on a NJPW show last May to become the STRONG Women’s Champion, winning in 13 minutes due to the former WWE talent suffering an ankle injury. Moné has been out of action since that outing.
Moné’s loss to Nightingale has been used as a storyline since she joined AEW, with her mentioning that they had unfinished business with each other. It was long known that Moné would face the winner of Sunday’s title match, and now her official return to the ring is set.
