Ladies and gents, grab your popcorn and pull up a chair because the wrestling world just got a whole lot spicier! Former CMLL star Stephanie Vaquer’s surprise move to WWE has stirred the pot, leaving AEW, NJPW, and CMLL fuming like a kettle on full boil. It’s a drama worthy of its own soap opera!
According to the all-knowing Dave Meltzer of “Wrestling Observer Radio,” Vaquer pulled out of several high-profile shows with CMLL and NJPW despite being the reigning CMLL World Women’s Champion and holding the CMLL World Women’s Tag Team Championship. You’d think she was running for office with this kind of shake-up!
“She was leaning towards WWE and she told CMLL, and I suppose … I believe she told New Japan, but it may have been that CMLL told New Japan,” Meltzer dished. “New Japan and CMLL have been aware of this [WWE’s interest] before she signed.”
Here’s the kicker – when Vaquer broke the news to CMLL about joining WWE, they played nice, asking her to drop the titles at NJPW’s San Jose show for a proper sendoff. But Stephanie had other plans. She signed with WWE on Monday and told CMLL that her match in Guadalajara on Tuesday, where she trounced Tessa Blanchard, would be her grand finale. Talk about a mic drop!
On Tuesday, Vaquer told CMLL she wouldn’t be showing up at Arena Mexico on Friday or any other dates. Imagine having dates lined up in Germany, at Copper Box [RevPro] on August 24th, and other New Japan Strong dates – only to leave them all hanging!
Understandably, CMLL is fuming like a dragon with indigestion. They’re irate about her sudden exit, feeling slighted that she didn’t finish her commitments. “CMLL was very upset with her because of what happened, and also, they had never been targeted this way by WWE,” Meltzer spilled.
Not to be left out, NJPW and AEW are also grumbling. AEW, who had been eyeing Vaquer, is not only peeved about losing her to WWE but also at the chaotic way it unfolded. NJPW, meanwhile, had been hyping her appearance at their San Jose show for months. Oops!
AEW did NJPW a solid by having Willow Nightingale step in for Vaquer’s vacated title match, facing Lluvia and Viva Van. But the drama doesn’t end there – WWE might fast-track Stephanie Vaquer to their shows in Mexico over the weekend. Buckle up, folks; it’s about to get wild!