Welcome along to the latest rendition of Sportskeeda Wrestling’s AEW News & Rumor Roundup. Today, we are looking at stories involving top pro-wrestling stars, including Mercedes Mone and CM Punk, among others.
Mercedes Mone has lost the final title from her belt collection, which was once 13. Meanwhile, a major AEW star called CM Punk a d***hebag, while another popular All Elite star and former champion was involved in a scary fall while performing a stunt outside of the Jacksonville-based promotion. We’ve got some exciting stories for you today so without further delay, let’s get this roundup underway.
#4. Mercedes Mone vacates APAC Women’s Title due to budget constraints
Mercedes Mone has officially lost the final belt in her massive global championship collection. The CEO went on a highly dominant run throughout 2025, reaching a peak where she proudly held 13 belts simultaneously across various global promotions. However, her collection began to dwindle as she dropped them one by one, leaving her with only the APAC Women’s Title as her last active championship.
In the latest edition of Mone Mag, the superstar revealed she recently made the difficult decision to officially vacate the APAC Women’s Title. She explained that APAC Wrestling told her they lacked the budget to fly her to events and were unwilling to collaborate with other promotions. The CEO also said that this lack of flexibility didn’t align with her vision, making vacating the title necessary for her to move forward.
“A Tough Decision While I was in London, I had to make a tough call. I sent the Malaysia Championship back. My team and I really tried to make things work—we put in the effort, had the conversations, and explored every option. But at the end of the day, they told us they didn’t have the budget to fly me out and weren’t open to working with other promotions. For me? That just didn’t align with the vision. So I made the decision to vacate the title,” Mone said.
Mone still holds the commemorative Owen Hart Foundation Tournament belt, but she confirmed she will return it soon as the new tournament season begins.
#3. MJF calls CM Punk a “D***hebag”
AEW World Champion MJF has shared a rather harsh opinion regarding WWE World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk. The Salt of the Earth recently made an appearance on the Games With Names podcast. During the interview, MJF was invited to participate in a word-association game in which the hosts listed the names of various professional wrestlers. When CM Punk’s name was brought up, Friedman had a very unflattering and blunt response ready, simply calling his former rival a “D***hebag”.
MJF and the Second City Saint are widely regarded as having one of the most acclaimed feuds during Punk’s time in AEW, having wrestled twice in 2022. Meanwhile, the Salt of the Earth is now preparing to defend his title against Kenny Omega at the upcoming Dynasty 2026 event.
#2. Darby Allin goes crashing in a scary stunt outside of AEW
Darby Allin is widely recognized for his willingness to endure incredible punishment inside the ring, but he is just as well-known for his daring antics outside of it. The former AEW TNT Champion was recently seen taking a nasty fall while attempting a stunt at the March Madness Final Four event. The Daredevil was visiting the TBS booth, which was promoting NBA star Anthony Davis’ upcoming Foulplay series with a free-throw challenge.
After successfully sinking a basketball shot through a smoke machine designed to impair his vision, Allin decided to raise the challenge. He tried to shoot the basketball while riding his skateboard, but he missed badly and crashed directly into the basketball stand.
A clip of his stunt can be seen below:
#1. “He’s not worth it” says Eddie Kingston; refuses to face MJF
Eddie Kingston has had a successful return to AEW after a major injury at last year’s All Out, but he has no desire to step into the ring with reigning AEW World Champion MJF. Even though the two popular stars have never faced each other in a match, Kingston completely shut down the idea during a recent interview on The Takedown on SI.
The Mad King bluntly stated that he will not give MJF the privilege of fighting him, claiming that the champion simply hasn’t earned that.
“No, he’s not worth it unless the AEW titles on the line. He’s not worth it unless it’s a number one contenders match or the world title. Other than that, no. I have no desire. I won’t give him, I won’t give MJF the privilege to fight me. He hasn’t earned that…He may think he had, fans may think he has, that’s fine. Everybody has an opinion…My opinion is no. So when he earns it, and if he doesn’t have the title, and he’s not for number one contenders thing, and he earns it, he earns the privilege to fight me, then maybe. But other than that, no,” said Kingston [H/T: ITRWrestling]
Time will reveal if a showdown between MJF and Eddie Kingston ever occurs.
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Edited by Karan Raj