Willow Nightingale and Mercedes Moné just can’t seem to escape injuries when they’re involved with each other.
Their rivalry goes all the way back to 2023, when they met in the finals of a tournament to crown the inaugural NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion. Nightingale won the match and the title, but it wasn’t exactly the celebration anyone had imagined.
Late in the match, Moné suffered a serious ankle injury that kept her out of action for almost a year. The injury was bad enough that many wondered whether she’d ever get back to the level she was at before.
Even though Moné has since admitted it was simply a freak accident, she also acknowledged that it took her a long time to stop blaming Nightingale for what happened.
Ever since then, the two have been linked together.
They’ve shared the ring multiple times over the last three years, including Moné defeating Nightingale for the AEW TBS Championship in 2024. But the rivalry has never really gone away. Every time they cross paths, that 2023 injury somehow finds its way back into the feud.
That’s exactly what’s been happening again in the build to AEW All In.
After winning this year’s Owen Hart Foundation Cup, Moné earned a shot at Nightingale’s AEW Women’s World Championship, setting up another huge chapter in one of AEW’s biggest women’s rivalries. Much of the story has focused on their history together, with AEW repeatedly bringing up the injury that changed everything back in 2023.
Now, there’s another real injury hanging over the match.
During Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite, Moné attacked Nightingale backstage and repeatedly targeted the champion’s hand. At the time, most fans assumed it was simply part of the storyline heading into All In, but it turns out it wasn’t.
Just hours after Dynamite went off the air, Bryan Alvarez reported that Nightingale’s hand injury is legitimate.
“Willow’s hand injury is said to be legitimate but she is expected to be able to work the show this weekend.”
That’s the good news for AEW. Despite the injury, Nightingale is still expected to defend the AEW Women’s World Championship against Moné at All In this weekend.
Even then, it’s a pretty ironic situation. Three years ago, it was Moné walking away from a match with Nightingale seriously hurt. Now, just days before another massive showdown between the two, it’s Nightingale dealing with a legitimate injury of her own.
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