Willow Nightingale will head into Sunday’s AEW All In under far from ideal circumstances.
The reigning AEW Women’s World Champion confirmed she is dealing with a broken hand just two days before she is scheduled to defend the title against Mercedes Moné at Wembley Stadium.
Tony Khan had already confirmed the injury during the All In press conference. The AEW president revealed the issue occurred on the day of the Dynamite and Collision tapings in Glasgow but assured fans that Nightingale would still compete on the pay-per-view.
Speaking with John Pollock of POST Wrestling during the All In Media Day, Willow shared that she still needs to undergo another X-ray to determine just how much use she’ll have of the hand come Sunday.
“Well, 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 wrist flexibility, or just hands, or if I’m gonna kind of have a situation where I’m just like a stump. So, we’ll see. But the heart is good. She’s full of love and passion, and ready to fight.”
AEW wasted no time folding the injury into the storyline. On this week’s Dynamite, Mercedes Moné attacked Willow backstage, with the champion shown clutching her left hand.
Willow captured the title by defeating Thekla at Redemption in July. Mercedes, meanwhile, earned her shot at All In by winning the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament for the second consecutive year.