During her in-ring promo, Mercedes said she’s in New Japan and STARDOM, a women’s wrestling promotion NJPW partners with, to make history. She also called herself “The CEO” of the women’s division.

“I’m interested in many wrestlers, but the reason I decided to fight KAIRI-san in the first place is because we have a ‘past,’” Moné said during the post-event press conference, per Fightful. “February 18th, San Jose, New Japan I think it will be the best match in Stardom history, so please look forward to it.”

Mercedes has always been open about her desire to wrestle in Japan. It’s been a longtime dream of hers and she even spent time training there during a hiatus from WWE in 2019. Obviously, she’s going after KAIRI because she’s the champion, but she’s also a former WWE wrestler and the two had multiple matches against one another during their time with the company. Though Moné has continued to train and stay in ring shape, there’s definitely going to be some rust after not competing since she walked out on WWE in May. Making her big return against someone she’s familiar with, who’s also extremely talented, will help her find her way back to being one of the best in-ring performers in the business.

Now, we just have to wait for the Jan. 11 episode of AEW Dynamite to find out if she will surprise fans as Saraya’s mystery partner in her tag team match against Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. and AEW Women’s Champion Jamie Hayter. AEW and NJPW have a working relationship, so there’s absolutely a world where we could see Mercedes wrestling in New Japan, STARDOM, Ring of Honor and AEW. And I am here to see her reign over all these promotions. Give Mercedes all the gold!