Willow Nightingale Wins NJPW STRONG Women’s Title At NJPW Resurgence
Willow Nightingale defeats Mercedes Moné and makes history tonight!
New Japan Pro-Wrestling held a one-night tournament at NJPW Resurgence to crown the first NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion. Mercedes Moné pinned Stephanie Vaquer with the Mone-Maker to win the first round after a tense match. Momo Kohgo was defeated by Willow Nightingale, who used the Doctor Bomb to pin her and move on to the championship match.
The main event of the tournament involved a confrontation between Nightingale and Mone. As they engaged in back-and-forth combat, Nightingale consistently outweighed Moné. In the end, Willow used one Doctor Comb to nearly fall, and then she used a second Doctor Comb to win.
#njResurgence LIVE IN ENGLISH on New Japan World PPV! Live on #njpwworld PPV! ⇒https://t.co/1jAfO5Z74U… 8th match: 【NJPW STRONG WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP】@MercedesVarnado 🆚 @willowwrestles #NJPW #njResurgence #njpwworld pic.twitter.com/b2lSvpFkWz — njpwworld (@njpwworld) May 22, 2023
After the match, Nightingale gave an emotional speech in which she thanked her opponents and thanked the audience for supporting her all the way up to this point.
Moné was assisted to her back after the fight because it appeared that she had been hurt.
Mercedes Moné being carried to the back. Really hope it’s nothing too serious. 🙏🏼🙏🏼❤️ #njresurgence pic.twitter.com/6EqDIUOCz8 — 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐕𝐞𝐧 (@WrestlingCovers) May 22, 2023
Nightingale currently competes for ROH in addition to AEW. She has also competed in wrestling for various promotions, such as Beyond, ROH, and MLW. Former WWE Women’s Grand Slam Champion Moné, also known as Sasha Banks. Her victory over KAIRI at NJPW Battle in the Valley earned her the IWGP Women’s Championship, which she lost to Mayu Iwatani on April 23 at the STARDOM All Star Grand Queendom event.