Women’s Owen Hart Foundation winner crowned at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door
For the second straight year, Mercedes Mone is heading to AEW All In as she attempts to win her first-ever AEW Women’s World title.
Mone defeated Maya World in the finals of the women’s Owen Hart Foundation tournament at Sunday’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door — a match that featured two women that weren’t originally in the tournament to begin with.
The match was competitive early until Mone went on a dominant run in the middle that saw her running around, mocking World at one point. World rallied, hitting a trifecta of overhead throws/suplexes that saw her toss Mone outside the ring on the third. World survived both a sunset flip power bomb and a Mone Maker for near falls, later hitting her own sunset flip power bomb on the outside of the ring followed by a moonsault and another back in the ring for a nearfall.
World then got a Statement Maker on Mone that nearly got her to tap, but when World pushed off the ropes to reverse Mone escaping, Mone countered into her own Statement Maker that nearly got World to tap. Both women countered with pin attempts and Mone hit an awkward looking backstabber into another Statement Maker for the tap and win.
World was added to the tournament after Sareee wasn’t cleared medically, picking up wins over Skye Blue and Athena to advance. She also became a sympathetic figure during this unexpected run due to the recent unexpected passing of her brother. Afterward, Athena did a backstage interview with Renee Paquette that heavily implied an ROH Women’s World title match is coming.
Mone was added after Willow Nightingale’s shoulder injury, making her return to AEW with wins over Alex Windsor and Hazuki to advance.
It’s Mone’s second straight Owen Hart tournament win. She was unsuccessful in defeating then-Women’s World Champion Toni Storm at All In: Texas in what was her only shot at the title to that point. She went on a belt collector/Ultimo Mone title run around the world that saw her hold 13 titles consecutively that she lost over the last six months.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.