When it comes to Forbidden Door 2024, no performer earned more flowers for their efforts than Stephanie Vaquer, the then-CMLL World Women's Champion who lost the NJPW Strong Women's Championship to Mercedes Mone near the end of the show.
That's right, after working her first-ever televised match for a major American wrestling promotion less than a week prior to the big event on Long Island, Vaquer put on a clinic against the “CEO” in one of the better matches on the show, earning a four-star rating from Dave Meltzer for their efforts and cementing the CMLL stars as the next gal up for a serious push on US soil.
And now, less than two weeks after the big show, it would appear that push is coming a whole lot sooner than fans might have expected, as after announcing her exit from CMLL and NJPW on social media, PWI Insider has reported that Vaquer is taking her talents to WWE, having spent the past weekend at Money in the Bank and NXT Heatwave in Toronto, according to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.
While mum's the word from Vaquer on where she will wrestle next, she did say goodbye to CMLL and NJPW before announcing that she was vacating her belts on her way out of the promotion.
At this moment I stop belonging to the ranks of CMLL and NJPW
Clarify, I AM LEAVING THROUGH THE BIG DOOR, forever grateful to the WORLD WRESTLING COUNCIL AND NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING, and in the best terms.
From today I vacate the CMLL World Women's Championship as well as the CMLL World Women's Couples Championship.
For which I offer an apology to the fans. For obvious reasons, I will not be present at the next shows and I hope you can understand that the terms between companies are what lead to this statement.
With Mexico in my heart and with the commitment to represent Mexican wrestling wherever I go
Infinite thanks to SR Salvador Lutteroth for his good wishes and also to all the unconditional support of my people and my colleagues
THANK YOU
For WWE fans, this is a massive win, as even if they haven't seen more than Vaquer's highlights on social media, they still know her reputation and how big a deal she should be in NXT when she debuts later this year. And as for AEW fans? Well, they at least got two great matches out of Vaquer and have enough star power in the women's division to keep the storylines flowing into the future. Considering the promotion's past, that's a positive in its own right.
UPDATE: Shawn Michaels has made it official.
Mercedes Mone loved the boos at Forbidden Door vs. Stephanie Vaquer
While AEW fans have seen the last of Stephanie Vaquer, at least for now, Mercedes Mone still had something to say about their match at Forbidden Door, namely the boos she earned from New York fans for her noted Boston fandom. While Mone probably didn't expect the mid-match heel turn against CMLL's female ace, according to her official website, she embraced it and plans to keep that energy up into the future.
“My fellow board members of yours truly, CEO Mercedes Moné, I would like to know whoever was a part of the crowd that switched sides on me in the middle of the match… oh did you think I missed that? Come on, have a little fun, fess up now. I mean, I understand having the hometown hate. I'd be bitter, too, if I had to watch the face of TBS, the New Japan Strong Champion, and one of the living proofs that Boston is, in fact, the city of champions make absolute HISTORY where your teams just can't compete or compare. But hey, have a little class. JK CELTICS NATION FOR LIFE BABY & IF YOUR SOX AIN'T RED – GET OUT OF HERE” Mercedes Mone wrote to fans via 411 Mania.
“I won't lie when the chants started – it had me giggling, silly sillies! Don't you know it's ME who puts the Boss in Boston! I love New York, though, so I'll let y'all paint me in the villain era – that's one thing I love about wrestling: the fans are quick to turn on you, and yet somehow that energy always ends up hyping me up more, so please, carry on, I do enjoy it! If there's one thing you can always expect at a wrestling show, it is that the crowd is unpredictable, and you may not know what's going to happen, but one thing is for sure: it will be something surely to remember! In fact, NYC – I should be thanking you, changing sides – cheering on Stephanie over me mid-match; that was like a light bulb moment for me, and now I have some far more exciting stuff up my sleeves. CEO isn't a character; it's a whole entire cooperation, baby! And we are expanding as we speak! Stay tuned!”
Considering Mone aligned herself with the EVPs on the most recent edition of Dynamite, it would appear a full-on heel turn could be in the “CEO's” immediate future, especially as Britt Baker attempts to keep things on the straight and narrow as a returning babyface hero. Considering Money's reaction as a babyface have been mixed from fans thus far in her AEW run, it would appear this turn could be just what the “CEO” ordered to get herself over in a major way.
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