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News broke earlier this week that former NJPW STRONG Women's Champion Stephanie Vaquer was passing up an AEW contract to sign with WWE and was not finishing up her remaining independent dates. The decision resulted in Vaquer pulling out of upcoming CMLL shows, including the crossover show NJPW x CMLL Fantastica Mania. In the wake of the surprisingly sudden signing, many speculated that Vaquer removed herself from Fantastic Mania because WWE wanted to use her at their own show at Arena Ciudad de México on Saturday; on Friday afternoon, they effectively confirmed as much, announcing via social media that Vaquer will appear at live events in Mexico City and Monterrey this weekend. It has not been confirmed whether or not she will be wrestling.
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See @Steph_Vaquer LIVE at #WWEMonterrey and #WWEMexicoCity this weekend!
🎟️ Tickets available at https://t.co/4hk4UOC9xb. https://t.co/IHGDzUFyIm
— WWE (@WWE) July 12, 2024
According to reports ahead of the announcement, Vaquer had entered WWE's radar specifically after her outing against Mercedes Mone at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door. She was booked in two appearances, wrestling Lady Frost prior to Forbidden Door during "AEW Collision," and had reportedly been offered a deal to continue with Tony Khan's company. However, she decided to join WWE, foregoing any of her future bookings with NJPW and CMLL and allegedly upsetting all three promotions. CMLL is said to be upset they were unable to have Vaquer drop the CMLL Women's World and Women's Tag Team titles prior to her departure as they had intended; they were vacated instead. Vaquer lost the NJPW STRONG Women's Championship to Mone at Forbidden Door, simultaneously failing to capture the TBS Championship. She is the latest international women's talent to be brought into WWE after Giulia agreed to terms to join the "WWE NXT" brand in the near future.
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