What Could Have Been: 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 who had been following May for years know that "The Glamour" has seemingly always had WWE in her sights, ever since she started as a WWE Shop influencer back in 2017. May auditioned for WWE during a tryout at 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 women would go on to have one of the best feuds in women's wrestling history, which culminated in May's last match for the company, the Hollywood Ending match at Revolution 2025. Following the match, May wasn't factored in to the women'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 company's women's division on notice.
If the current "NXT" star now known as Monroe (who we'll refer to as "May" going forward) had stayed in AEW, we obviously wouldn't 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 women face off against NXT Women's Champion Jacy Jayne and Fallon Henley this Saturday afternoon. If May hadn't made the jump, that match of course wouldn't be happening, but how else would history have changed if she'd re-signed with AEW?
After the championship
While some reports indicate May's departure from AEW affected the booking of All In: Texas, AEW sources have since insisted that is not the case, and that the All In AEW Women's World Championship match was always meant to be Storm versus Mercedes Mone. So if she'd stayed, she would have been out of the title picture (at least temporarily) which begs the question: What would May have been doing at AEW's biggest event of the year?
With All In emanating from Arlington, Texas rather than London (May's home turf) and Wembley Stadium this year, AEW could have chosen to keep May off the show until the following "AEW Dynamite" for the shock factor. She could also have remained on Storm's rader by appearing at the end of the Storm-Mone match, either challenging her arch nemesis once again or serving as the first obstacle for the newly-crowned Mone.
If AEW wanted 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 go back to Japan to compete while waiting to get back in the main title picture in AEW. May also 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 would have given her time for some new talent to be signed or return to AEW for fresh matchups.
Ushering in the women's tag titles
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 women even had a love triangle-esque angle going on for awhile as Shirakawa challenged for Storm's title for the first time. The former Stardom talent officially signed to Khan's company in May after finishing up her obligations in Japan. Also in recent months, fans have been speculating about the possibility of AEW Women's Tag Team Championships. According to a recent report from Bodyslam, the championship belts were even made and have been sitting on a shelf for over a year, just waiting to be used.
While May could have of course feuded with Shirakawa over her former tag partner's allegiance to Storm following their title bout at Double or Nothing, it would be more likely that they would have become a tag team once again following Shirakawa's most recent women's title loss. Their team up would keep May away from Storm and the main gold for awhile.
With the return of Tay Melo to re-align with Anna Jay, Skye Blue returning 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 chose to stay in AEW, Khan may have pulled the trigger on the women's tag belts. May and Shirakawa, who held gold together in Stardom, could have very well been the inaugural champions.
State of WWE NXT women's division
It has been rumored one of the big reasons both current Women's United States Champion Giulia and former NXT Women's and Women's North American Champion Stephanie Vaquer were called up to the main roster was due to May's impending arrival. Both women had competed in the Royal Rumble this year, but were swiftly called up to the main roster without much notice (in the case of Giulia) and quite suddenly (in the case of Vaquer, who unexpectedly lost the women's title to Jacy Jayne on an episode of "NXT"). It might be reasonable to assume that May staying in AEW could have delayed the call-ups of Vaquer and Giulia, at the very least.
It can also be pondered whether or not Jayne would currently hold "NXT's" main women's title if May had not signed with the company and Vaquer had been quickly called up. It's likely, as Jayne has been a big presence and consistent force in "NXT" for quite some time, 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 rather than later and skyrocket her way to the top of WWE, just like she did in AEW — and perhaps as a heel rather than a babyface. It's easy to image Grace winning at Evolution, then being turned on and almost immediately dethroned by May, something that wouldn't even be a possibility if May had stayed with Tony Khan's promotion.