Mercedes Moné’s growing list of accomplishments has sparked discussion about her potential Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame credentials following her AEW Women’s World Championship victory at All In: London.
Moné defeated Willow Nightingale at AEW All In 2026 to capture the title, with longtime wrestling analyst Dave Meltzer subsequently awarding the match a five-star rating.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer discussed Moné’s résumé and highlighted the range of major championships and historic venues she has experienced throughout her career. “She would be the first woman ever to hold the WWE—I don’t think she said WWE, but it’s the first person ever to hold the WWE, the CMLL, New Japan, IWGP, and Strong, and now AEW championships. And so that, and also this week she became the first person, the first woman. There are a lot of guys who’ve done this, but she’s the first woman who will ever have competed in the Tokyo Dome, which very few women wrestlers have been in the Tokyo Dome. So that’s a pretty hard—that’s the hardest one for the women wrestlers.
So, competed at the Tokyo Dome, competed in Madison Square Garden, which a lot of women wrestlers have, competed at Wembley, and competed at Arena Mexico. So that’s two big major resume points for her going into, you know, Hall of Fame consideration.”
Despite those accomplishments, Meltzer noted that no American woman has been voted into the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame during its voting era. He also pointed to Becky Lynch, another major candidate who has yet to come particularly close to induction. “It’s, you know, no American woman has been voted in. I think since we’ve had voting. I mean, Japanese women have been voted in, but no American women. And Becky Lynch hasn’t really come close, and I would think Mercedes probably won’t.”
Meltzer nevertheless believes both Lynch and Moné deserve serious consideration, albeit for very different reasons.
He credited Lynch with reaching a level where she was arguably the biggest star in the entire wrestling business during the height of “The Man” run, while offering particularly high praise for Moné’s in-ring career. “But those two probably deserve consideration for very different reasons. You know, Becky Lynch was the first woman, probably in American history, to be the biggest star, even though it was a short period of time, in the entire business. And Mercedes, you know, the stuff that I said, and probably, you know, Mercedes is probably the best overall worker of American women wrestlers ever. I mean, there’s—I couldn’t come up with anybody else as the best.”
Moné’s victory over Nightingale at Wembley added the AEW Women’s World Championship to a career résumé that already includes championship success across WWE, NJPW, NJPW Strong and CMLL.
