3 reasons why Mercedes Mone must lose the TBS Championship on AEW Dynamite

Both AEW's Men's and Women's World Championships will be on the line at the promotion's much-anticipated pay-per-view, All In: Texas. While Jon Moxley will be defending his crown against Hangman Page, Toni Storm will try to retain her title against Mercedes Mone.

Before she can add another belt to her collection, however, The CEO will defend her TBS Championship against The Timeless One's close friend and ally, Mina Shirakawa, on the 300th episode of Wednesday Night Dynamite. While suffering a loss on the upcoming show could potentially put a stop to Mercedes' momentum ahead of All In 2025, there are three compelling reasons to argue that Mone should drop her TBS Title to Mina this coming week.

Let us consider those reasons one by one.

#1. Mina Shirakawa could get her win back against Mercedes Mone and capture her first AEW title

Mercedes Mone locked horns with Mina Shirakawa for the very first time earlier this year at Wrestle Dynasty 2025, a cross-promotional pay-per-view jointly produced by AEW, CMLL, and NJPW. The erstwhile Sasha Banks squared off against the Japanese star in a title vs. title match, which ended with her retaining her NJPW Strong Women's Championship and winning Mina's RevPro Undisputed British Women's Championship.

The next time Mercedes shared the ring with Shirakawa was in a three-way match also involving AZM, the finish of which saw the 22-year-old pinning The Venus of Pro-Wrestling to win Mone's NJPW Strong Women's Title. Since then, Mina has joined the All Elite Wrestling roster officially, and this past Wednesday, came to the aid of her friend, Toni Storm, when the latter found herself trapped in Mercedes' Statement Maker submission.

Although Shirakawa has asked Storm not to interfere in her upcoming TBS Championship match against Mone, the latter could nonetheless help Mina win the belt next week. This would allow the former Wonder of Stardom Champion to get her win back against Mercedes and establish her credibility in the roster, while also enabling Toni to return the favor to Shirakawa for having made the save for her.

#2. Mercedes Mone would be extra motivated to beat Toni Storm at AEW All In: Texas

Mercedes Mone has been unbeaten in singles competition since her debut in AEW. She won the TBS Championship from Willow Nightingale in her very first match for the promotion at last year's Double or Nothing, and has successfully defended the belt against a host of talent from around the globe, including Nyla Rose, Zeuxis, Stephanie Vaquer, Hikaru Shida, Britt Baker, Kris Statlander, Yuka Sakazaki, Harley Cameron and Momo Watanabe, to name a few.

Mone's character is fueled by her desire to continue draping herself in championship gold. Despite losing her NJPW Strong Women's Championship at Resurgence 2025 last month, Mercedes bounced back quickly by securing both the EWA Women's Championship and, more recently, the CMLL World Women's Championship at Grand Slam Mexico. Although she is confident about her chances against Toni Storm, Mone could end up losing her prized TBS Title to Mina Shirakawa before she gets to compete for the AEW Women's World Championship.

Such an outcome could lead to The Boss, as she was formerly known, being additionally motivated to win her All In: Texas match against Storm, as it would not only end her ongoing win streak, but also mark the conclusion of the title reign that officially kicked off her dominant run in the company.

#3. Unexpected title change could draw more eyes to AEW television

AEW loaded its June 2025 programming with a number of television specials en route to All In. Beginning with the return of Fyter Fest, the company continued by staging a new show dubbed Summer Blockbuster, after which it hosted yet another edition of Grand Slam, but for the very first time in Arena Mexico. Now, the Jacksonville-based promotion is about to present the 300th edition of its Wednesday-night show, Dynamite.

Although most of the aforementioned shows featured at least one championship bout, only one of them - Grand Slam Mexico - witnessed a title change hands, as Mercedes Mone defeated Zeuxis to become the CMLL World Women's Champion. To raise the stakes even higher ahead of All In: Texas, Tony Khan could book another shocking title change this coming Wednesday on AEW Dynamite by having the TBS Champion drop her strap to Mina Shirakawa.

Such a move would not only make the outcome of Mone's Women's World Title match against Toni Storm much more unpredictable, but it could also inspire viewers to follow the company's televised programming on a weekly basis at the risk of missing out on similar major developments moving forward.

These WWE moments were totally off-script - Check now!

Edited by Arsh Das