Add as a preferred source on Google People in WWE can’t figure out what AEW is doing with Persephone, according to Bryan Alvarez.
On Thursday’s Wrestling Observer Live, Alvarez said he’s heard from several people in WWE who are baffled by Tony Khan’s usage of the reigning CMLL World Women’s Champion.
“They’re just like, ‘What’s this guy doing?'” Alvarez said, adding that if her deal comes due, WWE is going to want her instantly. As it stands, he said, all she does on AEW TV is show up and do jobs as CMLL Women’s Champion.
The comments came a day after Persephone came up short again on Dynamite. Maya World retained the TBS Title over her on the 7/29 show from the Masonic Temple Theatre in Detroit.
Former champion Hikaru Shida slid a kendo stick into the ring for Persephone late, but Kris Statlander ran in and ripped it away, and World hit her bridging fallaway slam for the pin. Statlander raised World’s hand afterward — payback for Persephone belting her in the 7/1 Survival of the Fittest match for the vacant title, which Shida won before dropping it to World at Redemption on Sunday.
WWE’s interest in Persephone is nothing new. The Observer reported the company had eyes on her going back to her TBS Title four-way at Forbidden Door 2025, and Alvarez clarified in January that she never actually got an offer, since her CMLL deal barred her from talking to WWE at all. In April, Dave Meltzer reported people in WWE were already discussing going after her whenever the dual contract is up.
Persephone signed dual deals with AEW and CMLL on 1/15/2026, letting her work both promotions regularly. No expiration date has been made public, though the Observer has reported it’s expected to run out at some point this year.
The numbers back up the criticism. Since taking the CMLL World Women’s Title from Mercedes Moné on 3/6/2026, Persephone is 3-5 in eight AEW matches. The wins came over Julia Hart, Billie Starkz, and a 90-second squash of Angelica Risk on the 7/25 Collision.
The losses: three TBS Title matches (Willow Nightingale on 3/11, the Survival of the Fittest, and World this week), a first-round Owen Hart Foundation Tournament loss to Hazuki on the 6/6 Collision, and a tag loss alongside Alex Windsor to the Triangle of Madness.
Her CMLL run has gone the other way. She’s turned back Lacey Lane, Tessa Blanchard, and Billie Starkz, and she defends against Blanchard again this Friday, 7/31, at Arena México.