Blake Monroe almost went back to Japan.
The former AEW Women’s World Champion has had a fantastic wrestling career in the past three years. The woman formerly named Mariah May came into AEW and was instantly thrusted with the top act of the company, Toni Storm.
She won the Owen Hart tournament in 2024 and instantly turned on her mentor. That moment sparked into a full blown feud between May and Storm, with the former winning the AEW Women’s World title at All In 2024.
May kept the belt for 174 days before dropping it back to Storm at the Grand Slam show in Australia. These two had one more match at Revolution and several months later, Mariah May turned into Blake Monroe and has been heating up NXT ever since.
Though it’s been the 27-year-old’s dream to compete in a WWE ring, Monroe revealed on Busted Open Radio that she almost went back to Japan following her stint in AEW.
“I had a fantastic experience and I did things that I’m so proud of and cherish. I had a really short contract and when it came to an end, there were positives and negatives. It got to the point in wrestling where, I did have an amazing story, but that was the one thing. I didn’t have much else. I just thought, ‘Is this everything I want?’ I also considered going to Japan, which nobody knows. It’s something I talked to them about. When my deal was up, people were like, ‘Just talk to WWE and see.’ I wasn’t considering it. That’s not an insult to WWE. I always just try to focus on one thing at a time and I just hadn’t considered it. When I talked to them and they cared so much about The Glamour and all these different things.
I was like, ‘Okay, now I do have a big choice to make.’ I sat and thought about it. It was a really tough decision. It just came down to, I did everything I needed to do. I feel like I told a great story, and I made people feel something, and it’s time to close that chapter and start a new one. Getting a new name and a whole new experience. There are so many women here. Women’s wrestling is very important in WWE. As a woman, that’s something I want to be a part of. All these different matches and possibilities, to me, it was a great deal. It was a challenge, and I want a challenge,” she said.
Monroe is coming off her toughest challenge to date as she came up short against Jordynne Grace at No Mercy. Monroe and Grace have one win a piece so it’s possible that they’ll have one final match, but Grace’s win seemed to be a signal the end of their rivalry. At this moment, it’s unknown when Monroe will return to NXT television.