Mercedes Moné and Kris Statlander outdo themselves at AEW Worlds End. NXT will host New Year’s Evil on January 7. STARDOM crowns new champions, and more! Let’s break it down in this week’s edition of Women’s Wrestling Wrap-Up!
Mercedes Moné & Kris Statlander Make History Once Again
At AEW Full Gear, Mercedes Moné and Kris Statlander made history when they wrestled just under 20 minutes with the TBS Championship on the line. In doing this, Moné and Statlander specifically cemented the record for the longest women’s match in all of AEW.
Just over a month later, the two outdid themselves as they surpassed the 24-minute mark in their rematch for the TBS Championship at AEW Worlds End. At one point, Moné spiked Statlander on the apron with a piledriver she believed to be the capstone of the matchup. Surprisingly, Statlander managed to beat, albeit barely, the referee’s count of ten to continue the bout.
From there, Moné locked Statlander in the Statement Maker, which she escaped with a rope break. Statlander then looked for a Saturday Night Fever, which Moné countered into an ankle lock that Statlander again escaped. In the closing moments, the two traded pinfall attempts, with Moné capturing victory with her modified bridging pin. With this, Moné also retained her TBS Championship, ensuring her status as a double-champion heading into 2025.
Elsewhere, Mariah May successfully defended her AEW Women’s Championship against Thunder Rosa in a Tijuana Steet Fight.
READ MORE: AEW Worlds End: Mariah May vs. Thunder Rosa Result
NXT New Year’s Evil Preview
Next Tuesday, WWE NXT will kick off 2025 with New Year’s Evil from the Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles, California. So far, five matches are confirmed for the show, three of which feature talent from the women’s division.
Firstly, NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez will raise up her title against the winner of the Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge, Giulia. This will mark the second singles meeting between Perez and Giulia, as they previously faced off on the CW Network premiere of NXT. In that case, a returning Cora Jade laid out Giulia with a DDT, allowing Perez to hit Pop Rox for the win.
Elsewhere at New Year’s Evil, Jade, Stephanie Vaquer, Lola Vice, and Kelani Jordan will battle in a fatal-four-way match in which the winner earns a shot at the NXT Women’s North American Championship. Fallon Henley currently holds the title after she defeated Jordan in a gauntlet that also featured her Fatal Influence stablemates Jayce Jayne and Jazmyn Nyx.
Henley will also be in action next week as she, Jayne, and Nyx take on Gigi Dolin, Shotzi and Tatum Paxley in a six-woman tag team match. Shotzi returned from injury on the December 10 episode of NXT, helping Dolin and Paxley to even the odds against Fatal Influence. Now, the trios will face off in official tag action.
RELATED: Giulia Reflects On 2024, Wants To Make 2025 The Year Of Giulia
New STARDOM Champions Crowned
In its final event of 2024, STARDOM crowned a few new champions. The show, titled STARDOM Dream Queendom, emanated from Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan on December 29.
The two biggest title changes occurred in the semi and main event of the show. Firstly, Starlight Kid defeated Natsupoi to claim her first Wonder of STARDOM Championship. With this win, Natsupoi’s reign comes to an end at 155 days. In it, she successfully defended the title against Thekla and Hazuki.
Elsewhere in the main event, Saya Kamitani dethroned the 120-day reigning World of STARDOM Champion Tam Nakano. Nakano previously held the title from April until November of 2023, but was later forced to vacate it due to injury. She later regained it in August 2024 with a victory over Natsuko Tora. At Dream Queendom, however, Saya Kamitani defeated her with a Violet Screwdriver, thus ending her second reign with the respective title.
Kamitani’s win marks her first reign with the World of Stardom Championship. She previously held the Wonder of STARDOM Championship for an impressive 480 days, as well as the High Speed Championship.
Finally, the Goddesses of STARDOM Championship reign of Thekla and Momo Watanabe (H.A.T.E.) came to an end at the hands of Hanan and Saya Iida. Thekla and Watanabe held the titles for 159 days, successfully defending them once against Saki Kashima and Syuri.
READ MORE: STARDOM Dream Queendom 2024 Results (12/29): Multiple Title Changes
INTERVIEWS
WrestleZone’s Ella Jay spoke with OPW Women’s Tag Team Champion Shay Kassidy about winning tag team gold at Mickie James’ HER event, WWE Hall of Famer Bull Nakano presenting The Backslide Girlz with the titles, love for Sabrina Carpenter & Taylor Swift, making her debut on the QWI 200, facing Shazza McKenzie at PWA Mounties Mania, ring gear inspirations, and more!
Former AEW Women’s Champion Nyla Rose appeared on AEW Unrestricted to discuss the progression of Harley Cameron, Private Party’s emotional tag team title win, Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Moné at AEW Double or Nothing, sharing the ring with Saraya, and more.
AEW Women’s Champion Mariah May chatted with WPRK Studios about her street fight at AEW Worlds End, her journey from Stardom to AEW, her thoughts on global wrestling audiences, her reign as Women’s World Champion, her take on Toni Storm’s new persona and more.
TNA Hall of Famer Gail Kim joined A Wrestling Gal to discuss her experience on The Traitors Canada, if she’d compete on any other reality shows, her official role with TNA Wrestling, Masha Slamovich’s run in TNA, TNA talents to watch in 2025, and more!
Former AEW Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa spoke with Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful about taking caring of the AEW women’s division, helping young talent in the wrestling business, AEW’s upcoming All In in Arlington, and more.
