All Elite Wrestling Women's World Champion Willow Nightingale confirmed that she is working with a legitimate broken left hand heading into her highly anticipated championship defense against Mercedes Moné at AEW All In.
Nightingale addressed Moné during a recent "Collision" event, her hand visibly wrapped. "Mercedes, listen honey, you can try to stop me, attack me, take away this moment from me and the lovely people of Glasgow, but injured or not, I’m still here and I’m still talking to you guys," Nightingale stated. "I’ll be damned if I let you take this championship from me on Sunday."
Nightingale further elaborated on the injury to POST Wrestling, stating, "She's broken. I have to go get an x-ray later today to figure out the severity of that, because that would then inform just how guarded it has to be on Sunday – whether I'm able to get any kind of like wrist flexibility, or just hands or if I'm going to kind of have a situation like this where I'm just like a stump. So we'll see, we'll see. But the heart is good, she's full of love and passion and ready to fight."
The rivalry between Nightingale and Moné escalated recently when Moné executed a backstage assault on the champion. Despite the physical setback, Nightingale expressed confidence in her ability to retain the title.
Speaking about the upcoming match at London's Wembley Stadium, Nightingale anticipates a divided crowd. "I'm definitely expecting a split crowd. I'll be completely honest," she told OutKick. "One of my biggest strengths is I know the people are there for me, I know the people are cheering for me, but I would be a fool to not recognize the popularity of Mercedes."
Nightingale acknowledged the challenge posed by Moné and the high stakes of competing at the championship level. "My biggest strength maybe being a little torn, a little split, but as I mentioned, anytime you're kind of at this caliber, we're All Elite Wrestling. We're All Elite, and I'm in world championship tier, right? I am the world champ. The people who are going to be facing me for this are going to be elite. They're going to be bringing their best. They're going to be giving their all. So, I have to go in already knowing it's going to be a hard fight. Already knowing I'm going to have to push through when my body wants to give out."
The extent to which the injury will impact Nightingale's performance in her match against Moné remains to be seen.