KAIRI vs. Mercedes Mone title match official for NJPW Battle in the Valley

Mercedes Mone’s first NJPW match has now been made official.

NJPW has confirmed that the former Sasha Banks will challenge KAIRI for the IWGP Women’s Championship at Battle in the Valley on Saturday, February 18. The show will be available as a Fite TV pay-per-view with English commentary.

The title match was set up when Mone made her NJPW debut at Wrestle Kingdom 17. Following KAIRI’s IWGP Women’s Championship defense against Tam Nakano, Mone confronted KAIRI and laid her out. Mone announced that she’s coming to both NJPW and Stardom, declaring herself as “the standard, the conversation, the blueprint, and the CEO” of the women’s division.

Mone told KAIRI to enjoy the IWGP Women’s Championship while she still has it — because Mone is going to leave her bankrupt at Battle in the Valley.

In her post-show comments after Wrestle Kingdom, Mone said this is just her first stop — because she’s on a “world domination tour.”

Wrestle Kingdom was Mone’s first pro wrestling appearance since walking out of WWE last May.

KAIRI, who was formerly known as Kairi Sane in WWE, was crowned as the inaugural IWGP Women’s Champion this past November.

Battle in the Valley is taking place at the San Jose Civic in San Jose, California. KAIRI vs. Mone is the first match that’s been announced for the event.