Mercedes Mone trained in Mexico for a month in advance of NJPW debut
Mercedes Mone says that she went to Mexico for a month to train in advance of her NJPW debut.
Speaking to NJPW’s English language website for a long-form interview, the former Sasha Banks revealed that she spent October 2022 living and training in Mexico prior to making her NJPW debut at Wrestle Kingdom 17 in January.
“I went to Mexico for a month in October and lived there.”
“I went to all different wrestling schools to learn from trainers that I had grown up watching; from Skayde to Ricky Marvin to Bandido, there are so many legends there to learn from. To train at that altitude as well, it gets you ready from a conditioning perspective so much faster as well.”
Mone also says that she spent additional time in December training in Japan, and had already planned to do so regardless of whether or not her deal with NJPW came to fruition.
“But yeah, I was ready in October, and I knew coming to Japan was exactly what I wanted. I was shooting a movie in between training in Mexico then, but I knew I was going to Japan to train in December whether it was doing something with New Japan or not. When it all came together with NJPW though for Wrestle Kingdom it was ‘wow, OK, this is really happening’. This has been a dream literally since I was a teenager.”
Mone also calls wrestling “her first love” and says she never doubted that she would return to the business after leaving WWE.
“I’ve been working every single day since I left there. I’ve been making movies, making TV shows, magazines, modeling, I haven’t stopped. But wrestling has always been my number one love, and there was no soul searching involved in coming back to wrestling.”
Mone also says that she is “ready to f—ing go” in NJPW and STARDOM, eager to “cement her legacy” with her fans.
“I’ve been saying ‘Mone makes the world go round’, and I mean that. I’m thrilled to start this in Japan, and with NJPW and STARDOM. STARDOM, to me, has the best women’s wrestlers in the world, and I really want to cement my legacy with my wrestling fans, to cement my name with the greatest of all time. I’m ready to f**king go.”
The full interview can be found here.
Mone is set to challenge KAIRI for the IWGP Women’s Championship at NJPW Battle in the Valley on Saturday, February 18. The show will air on FITE TV pay-per-view.
The lineup:
NJPW Battle in the Valley, Saturday, February 18, 10 p.m. Eastern time on FITE TV PPV —
- IWGP Women’s Championship: KAIRI (c) vs. Mercedes Mone
- IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada or Shingo Takagi will defend the title
- Strong Tag Team titles: Motor City Machine Guns (c) vs. World Class Wrecking Crew
- Eddie Kingston vs. Jay White
- Filthy Rules: “Filthy” Tom Lawlor vs. Homicide
- Mascara Dorada, Josh Alexander, Adrian Quest, and Rocky Romero vs. KUSHIDA, Kevin Knight, Volador Jr., and The DKC
NJPW Battle in the Valley pre-show, Saturday, February 18, 9:20 p.m. Eastern time, free on YouTube and FITE TV —
- David Finlay vs. Bobby Fish
- JR Kratos vs. Alex Coughlin
