Mercedes Mone was pushed to her limit at AEW's Revolution pay-per-view on March 9 by STARDOM's Momo Watanabe in her AEW TBS Championship match, but "The CEO" was able to walk out of Los Angeles, California with her title in hand, despite taking a lot of punishment along the way.
The match kicked off with some back-and-forth, with Watanabe having none of Mone's signature dance. A big kick to Mone's arm gave Watanabe a target, but the champion was able to reverse a Meteora attempt into an early Crossface. Mone then hit a Meteora of her own in the ring ropes, and after some jockeying on the apron, followed that up with a powerbomb to the floor, before getting the challenger back in the ring. While all this went down, the camera cut to the VIP box where ROH's Billie Starkz, Athena's "Minion InTraining" was seen taking notes.
Back in the ring, Mone went for the three amigos, but was only able to hit two of them as Watanabe hit two of her own, her third amigo seeing Mone caught in the tree of woe. Watanabe hit some stiff kicks, and then a dropkick for a near fall, but the champion was able to duck another kick and roll up her opponent, only for Watanabe to secure her in a Crossface Chicken Wing, which Mone turned into a pin attempt. Mone looked to regain control with a backstabber, but she was lured into the corner by Watanabe for more kicks, which led to the challenger hitting a big Meteora on the apron, which earned a two count.
Both ladies went for submission attempts, with Mone coming out on top after hitting a powerbomb, leading her to go to the top rope, but Watanabe met her up top, hitting an avalanche belly-to-belly suplex for another two count. Watanabe hit her patented Peach Sunrise for another near fall, leading to some vicious kicks that almost knocked the champion out cold. However, Mone saw the window of opportunity to hit a crossbody from the top, leading to the champion hitting the Mone Maker, before transitioning into the Statement Maker for the submission victory. As Mone celebrated, Starkz finished her notes, and looked very impressed with what she saw as "The CEO" headed to the back.
