Stephanie Vaquer may have come up short at AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door, but the future looks bright for the now-former NJPW Strong Women’s Champion.

At the June 30, event, Vaquer lost the gold to Mercedes Mone who put her AEW TBS Championship on the line in the match. This title win was a long time coming for Mone, as the NJPW Strong Women’s Championship had been created in 2023 with the CEO in mind. Vaquer had held the title since March after upsetting Giulia, who is expected to join WWE NXT very soon.

Despite the loss, Vaquer’s performance at Forbidden Door has sparked a ton of interest in the Chilean wrestler. Mexican news outlet Record notes that Vaquer is set to leave CMLL, where she has competed since 2019. Vaquer is a former CMLL World Women’s Tag Team Champion and is currently in her first reign as CMLL World Women’s Champion.

After Forbidden Door WWE and AEW executives approached Stephanie Vaquer to let her know they were interested in hiring her. Record says that Vaquer will make a decision “in the next few days” as to which company she plans on joining on a multi-year deal.


It’s hardly a surprise that Vaquer’s efforts have caught the attention of both AEW and WWE. Following Forbidden Door, PW Insider noted that there had been praise backstage for the match, with special praise on Vaquer. Despite being less known to the New York City crowd than Mone, Vaquer was able to win over the fans at Forbidden Door in a testament to her skills.

Should Vaquer choose AEW, odds are a rematch with Mone won’t be in her immediate future, despite making it clear she wants said match after Forbidden Door. The AEW/NJPW crossover event also saw Britt Baker make her long-awaited return to TV and confronted Mone. On the most recent Dynamite, the two continued to tease a feud that’ll ultimately see Baker challenge for the gold.