“The Rainmaker” isn’t the only former IWGP champion that AEW have their eye on right now, as Mercedes Mone, formerly known as Sasha Banks in WWE, is expected to debut for AEW at any moment. However, according to Meltzer, the deal is coming down to the wire, as the company has believed they have had the former IWGP Women’s Champion all-but locked-in for some time.

So much so that Meltzer claimed an announcement relating to Mone’s arrival was supposed to happen already, but major news got in the way. “They were originally going to make the announcement on Saturday,” Meltzer said. “Then they realized that was probably not the best day to make the announcement, because with the Vince stuff, it was like, no-one’s going to be talking about this.” Vince McMahon dominated the headlines over Royal Rumble weekend following the lawsuit filed against him by former WWE employee Janel Grant alleging sex trafficking.

Meltzer noted the company has decided to wait for an opportunity to announce Mone’s arrival (or something relating to it) when it wouldn’t get lost in the shuffle of other news. AEW President Tony Khan is set to make a big announcement on the February 6 “AEW Dynamite,” with fans around the world expecting something that could point to the inevitable arrival of the CEO of professional wrestling.

Please credit “Wrestling Observer Radio” when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.