What If Mariah May (Aka WWE’s Blake Monroe) Had Stayed In AEW?

Blake Monroe, formerly AEW Women’s World Champion Mariah May, made the not-so-unexpected jump from AEW to WWE earlier this summer after an exciting, yet short, time with Tony Khan’s promotion. Those that had been following May for years know that “The Glamour” has seemingly all the time had WWE in her sights, ever since she began as a WWE Shop influencer back in 2017. May auditioned for WWE during a tryout on the UK Performance Center in June 2019, but didn’t make the cut. She wrestled across multiple independent promotions and took Stardom by storm before she signed with AEW in November 2023. She debuted as a crazed fan of “Timeless” Toni Storm and the ladies would go on to have among the finest feuds in women’s wrestling history, which culminated in May’s last match for the corporate, the Hollywood Ending match at Revolution 2025. Following the match, May wasn’t factored in to the ladies’s title picture and wasn’t brought back to AEW programming. She made her “NXT” debut on June 3, after her contract with AEW expired, and put the corporate’s women’s division on notice.

If the present “NXT” star now generally known as Monroe (who we’ll consult with as “May” going forward) had stayed in AEW, we obviously would not be getting her on-screen in-ring debut alongside Jordynne Grace at Great American Bash. She made her WWE in-ring debut on “NXT” live shows, but WWE fans across the globe will get their first taste of “The Glamour” when the ladies face off against NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne and Fallon Henley this Saturday afternoon. If May hadn’t made the jump, that match after all would not be happening, but how else would history have modified if she’d re-signed with AEW?

While some reports indicate May’s departure from AEW affected the booking of All In: Texas, AEW sources have since insisted that is just not the case, and that the All In AEW Women’s World Championship match was all the time meant to be Storm versus Mercedes Mone. So if she’d stayed, she would have been out of the title picture (a minimum of temporarily) which begs the query: What would Could have been doing at AEW’s biggest event of the yr?

With All In emanating from Arlington, Texas somewhat than London (May’s home turf) and Wembley Stadium this yr, AEW could have chosen to maintain May off the show until the next “AEW Dynamite” for the shock factor. She could even have remained on Storm’s rader by appearing at the tip of the Storm-Mone match, either difficult her arch nemesis once more or serving as the primary obstacle for the newly-crowned Mone. 

If AEW desired to keep May in a championship picture outside of the world title, she could have easily challenged Mone for her TBS belt as well; Mone was also holding the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship for awhile, and with May’s history in Japan, she could have challenged for that gold too. A possible victory could have seen May return to Japan to compete while waiting to get back within the foremost title picture in AEW. May could have continued to follow in Storm’s footsteps and had a “breakdown” and appeared in AEW’s partner promotions, like CMLL and Stardom, before returning to AEW. It will have given her time for some recent talent to be signed or return to AEW for fresh matchups.

May’s best friend and former Stardom tag team partner Mina Shirakawa officially became All Elite while fans were still speculating over May’s contract status. Shirakawa had been appearing in AEW since May and Storm were still friends, and the trio of girls even had a love triangle-esque angle happening for awhile as Shirakawa challenged for Storm’s title for the primary time. The previous Stardom talent officially signed to Khan’s company in May after ending up her obligations in Japan. Also in recent months, fans have been speculating about the opportunity of AEW Women’s Tag Team Championships. In accordance with a recent report from Bodyslam, the championship belts were even made and have been sitting on a shelf for over a yr, just waiting for use.

While May could have after all feuded with Shirakawa over her former tag partner’s allegiance to Storm following their title bout at Double or Nothing, it might be more likely that they’d have turn into a tag team once more following Shirakawa’s most up-to-date women’s title loss. Their team up would keep May away from Storm and the foremost gold for awhile. 

With the return of Tay Melo to re-align with Anna Jay, Skye Blue getting back from injury to reunite with Julia Hart, and Penelope Ford and Megan Bayne getting close enough as a team they even have matching gear, it seems likely that if May would have selected to remain in AEW, Khan can have pulled the trigger on the ladies’s tag belts. May and Shirakawa, who held gold together in Stardom, could have thoroughly been the inaugural champions.

It has been rumored considered one of the large reasons each current Women’s United States Champion Giulia and former NXT Women’s and Women’s North American Champion Stephanie Vaquer were called as much as the foremost roster was as a result of May’s impending arrival. Each women had competed within the Royal Rumble this yr, but were swiftly called as much as the foremost roster without much notice (within the case of Giulia) and quite suddenly (within the case of Vaquer, who unexpectedly lost the ladies’s title to Jacy Jayne on an episode of “NXT”). It may be reasonable to assume that May staying in AEW could have delayed the call-ups of Vaquer and Giulia, on the very least.

It could even be pondered whether or not Jayne would currently hold “NXT’s” foremost women’s title if May had not signed with the corporate and Vaquer had been quickly called up. It’s likely, as Jayne has been an enormous presence and consistent force in “NXT” for quite a while, but many viewers were shocked by Jayne’s victory over Vaquer, even with some help from Fatal Influence to get her there. While Jayne takes on Jordynne Grace for the NXT Women’s Championship at Evolution, it seems likely that May (now Blake) will hold the gold sooner somewhat than later and skyrocket her strategy to the highest of WWE, similar to she did in AEW — and maybe as a heel somewhat than a babyface. It is easy to image Grace winning at Evolution, then being turned on and almost immediately dethroned by May, something that would not even be a possibility if May had stayed with Tony Khan’s promotion.