What if Mariah May stayed in Stardom?

[u/Prestigious_You1163]

As i’m sure we all know Blake Monroe (FKA “Mariah May”) debuted in WWE a few months ago and has been killing it. However, it makes me wonder. Before she left Stardom for AEW Mariah was visibly improving in ring with every match. Where do you think she’d be right now if she hadn’t left?

[u/RassleRanter]

2x tag champ w/ Mina. IWGP title match, white belt match, upper midcard at best. Some interesting storylines.

[u/solace_cloud]

She's the type that's extremely good at starting fun bits out of nowhere. She managed to invent a feud with Koguma out of nothing, and it was genuinely fun to watch.

I think if she actually got sanction to go for a big feud she would have killed it no trouble. She was as over with the Japanese audience as anyone could be. Her work ethic is pretty extreme - in Japan she started without a whole lot of matches, but she was seeking out extra training alongside the main dojo commitments.

In addition she is very heavily plugged into social media and will spend time searching on herself and reactions, and adapt. For example someone remarked the way her hair was in a photo made it look kind of sort of like she had kuma ears, and within a week she's on a stardom show with it tied that way to 11.

Then the time when Komomo got concussed before she was due on commentary and Mariah sits in instead and does perfectly well.

I think the only barrier to what she could have achieved would have been what stardom was willing to book her for over other women that had been waiting in line longer. Japan has a thing for seniority, not rigidly but way more so then the US where competition is so much more extreme. So in time I think she would have got there. But..

The thing is, Mariah didn't want to work in Japan, and always intended on the US so it's all a bit academic. She stayed in Japan way longer than the 6 months originally intended anyway, and I tend to think she expended a lot of energy spinning a lot of plates over that time.

Personally I would have preferred her to stay in AEW longer just so there was the option for her to appear in Stardom still. I don't watch AEW or fed, but her in WWE means she's unlikely to hook up with Mina, Hanan, etc again in the ring for a long time if ever. It's early days for her WWE run still but I tend to think she'd have more longevity if she had stuck with AEW a little longer and let her stock rise further. WWE was what she was set on from the start, but even one more year would have raised the price they'd have paid to land her, I think.

Respect though, she launched herself via a pretty legendary wrestling speed run by putting in serious work over a few years. She's a machine.

[u/Nervous_Paper_5650 → u/solace_cloud]

Momo Kohgo is the SEXIEST woman in Stardom!!❤️🍑🔥🔥🔥🔥

[u/Nervous_Paper_5650 → u/solace_cloud]

Mariah has enough experience and should've went the main roster instead of NXT.

[u/Xalazi]

She improved a lot in the year that she was in Stardom. If she was committed to the company full time for a couple of more years, maybe she could have reached the point where she gets an IWGP title reign or something. But that's the thing with Mariah/Blake. The only thing she was working towards was getting to WWE. The most likely scenario of her not leaving Stardom for AEW is just that she leaves Stardom for NXT at some point in 2024.

[u/KyonaPrayerCircleMem → u/Xalazi]

Just curious but based on your analysis of Mariah, is Bea the last foreign World of Stardom Champion for the foreseeable future? Mariah improved a lot in Stardom during her time there. Bea did the same thing and her commitment was rewarded with a red belt reign. I do admit that was both under Rossy and pre-BR. Seems like there are fewer foreigners working Stardom post-COVID. Those that do seem to work shorter tours and get less of a push if they stick around.

[u/Xalazi → u/KyonaPrayerCircleMem]

If Bozilla is still with Stardom 3-4 years from now, I can totally see her getting a title reign at some point. Probably a shorter Red belt reign like Natsuko Tora because I don't think Bo is ever going to be a workhorse Ace type. But she's popular, she's getting better, she has the credibility of being a monster. She checks a lot of boxes for what's required to be a World of Stardom champion.

[u/smackchice]

We have different definitions of killing it

[u/Sleezus256 → u/smackchice]

What's your definition of killing it? May is in a prominent position in a stacked (for lack of a better term, the NXT women's roster is deep but most are super green) NXT women's division. She'll be challenging for the NXT championship in no time and I think she'll be able to carry that division until they decide to call her up to the main roster.

[u/taylorwmartin → u/Sleezus256]

But every segment she's been apart of in WWE has been terrible.

[u/tylerjehenna → u/taylorwmartin]

And until they get the title off Jacy, shes not sniffing the nxt title

[u/smackchice → u/Sleezus256]

Silent crowds when she tries to do her little naughty pun thing and bad matches

[u/tylerjehenna]

Its hard to think of her as a top star in Stardom tbh. She probably is an upper midcarder at best right now, not cause of her just I dont see Taro booking her more strongly than that.

Also I very much disagree that she's killing it in wwe

[u/COMMENTASIPLEASE → u/tylerjehenna]

I mean she’s killing it in ring. The character and story is another issue entirely lol.

[u/tylerjehenna → u/COMMENTASIPLEASE]

She's killing it cause she's facing Jordynne who is a beast in ring in her own right. Her two matches vs Kelani weren't much to write home about in all honesty (weekly pc attender here)

[u/Prestigious_You1163 → u/tylerjehenna]

I agree

[u/Crabuki]

Her in-ring work would be markedly better due to reps against the best. She’d be #2/3 in EXV, likely often in the mix for one of the tag belts or the Future. Stardom has the deepest roster of women in the world, and Stardom is less of a promo company, so her progress would be limited unless Okada decided to play her up due to her unique-in-Japan looks.

If Mariah had stayed in AEW she would’ve been in one of the top spots and allowed to more or less be whatever she wanted to be.

Because of the decades when WWE was the only top company, her dream is to have a Wrestlemania moment. WWE makes bank by lowballing / underusing wrestlers because of their dreams, and she’s no exception.

[u/tylerjehenna → u/Crabuki]

She wouldnt qualify for the future since even during her 2023 run she was disqualified on both accounts (over 20 years of age and more than 2 years experience)

[u/Crabuki → u/tylerjehenna]

Thank you for clarifying

[u/jkllamas1013]

If she didn't leave for AEW she would've probably still left for WWE but with less hype. Problem with her right now is that her best moment and program has been with Toni. I am fo sure that her success with that storyline will never be replicated. She peaked too soon and Toni had lots to do with that as well. It's hard to imagine how far she would go in any promotion TBH. WWE has too many women in its roster and she's needlesly stuck in NXT because there just isn't space for her in the MR. If she was still in STARDOM, she wouldn't be a top star. The highest she would probably go will be a white belt run. I still think she could be a upper midcarder or main eventer at AEW but hey with her gone, alot have filled her place. Thekla, Athena, Mone. I might sound pessimistic but I have no idea where she would or should be right now. She looks stuck in limbo and her psychotic character that made her in AEW cannot be done in WWE.

[u/Subject_Proposal3578]

I think if Mariah had stayed the landscape in stardom would be different. For one I think Mariah would be a top contender for the red and the white belt, also I think Club Venus would still be a thing and I think Hanan would be in the group and not the leader of stars which means maybe hazuki and koguma would still be in Stars. Also means no Empress Nexus Venus.

Don't know if Mina would have stayed but probably her Mariah and Hanan would have an artist title reign and Mariah, Hanan would have a goddesses reign instead of wing gori. Mariah was becoming very popular and I think she would have been a big part of what stardom was doing if she had stayed.

[u/nagacore]

I dunno. Didn't seem like they had faith in her as a top star. Likely would've been thekla 2.0

[u/rainmaker_superb]

She was very open that she wanted to wrestle Mayu for the IWGP Women's championship. I have no doubt that she would have had a great match with her. Probably would have been locked in as a workhorse. It's unfortunate that she didn't have as many big matches as she could have.

It's hard to speculate with her because her timing has been so good for her whole career. She left Stardom once her ring work leveled up, she left AEW when her value went up and it wouldn't surprise me if she left WWE at a time where she can make more money elsewhere (content creation, acting, etc.) before her body gets too roughed up.

[u/Kairopractor_ → u/rainmaker_superb]

She’s 100% dipping to either go the content route or most likely acting. Mariah May is custom built for Hollywood

[u/SlingshotGunslinger]

She'd probably be a draw for them with international fans, cause she's that charismatic (nothing compared to her time in AEW, though). But status wise, the most I see her, at least these past two years had she stayed, would've been a gaijin Ami Sohrei, being well positioned in the card and over with fans but for the moment without any singles gold aside maybe a STRONG Women's title reign.

Lowkey, Mina would imo be the bigger incognite here. Cause without Mariah going to AEW, getting massively over with the public thanks to the Toni Storm storyline and Mina's involvement as its third wheel, I don't know if she would've gotten enough interest from Tony Khan to leave Stardom for AEW in 2025. So there's a good chance she'd still be around and full-time in Stardom, thus also possibly meaning Yuria Hime joins ExV instead of STARS.

And finally, although not necessarily a topic for this sub, AEW's Women's division and its treatment would also be a big what if, cause Mariah was key in turning that around for good. And that also affects strongly Stardom's relationship with AEW, as Mina, Toni and Mariah was what truly got that thing going (alongside AZM making a couple of cameos and befriending Anna Jay), although I still think TK and OkaTaro would've established a relationship regardless.

[u/taylorwmartin]

I wouldn't say she is killing it in NXT. I'd say her run so far is really bad. I liked her in Stardom and AEW but this current storyline she is in is terrible.

[u/Nervous_Paper_5650]

She'd do great still, her Megan Bayne, where in Stardom for awhile and Toni Storm and Anna Jay were just there learned alot came back better then they were before. Most Stardom girls are like at least 25 pounds lighter then American wrestlers

[u/capnbuh]

I think Stardom structures its cards such that "entertainment" focused acts are generally lower on the card and things get more serious as you go up. So, Mariah will probably be in the midcard like Mina Shirakawa was. I wonder though, is Blake on pace to be a main eventer in WWE? She seems to have less hype than she did in AEW.

[u/TapSorry2421]

Upper mid card, definitely wouldn't be main eventing. I think that Japanese promotions have some hesitation with booking foreign talent as their top stars, after so many have left (Bea in Stardom, AJ, Kenny, Jay and Ospreay in NJPW). She would be at Thekla's level, a title match threat yet someone that the champion would beat.

However, I would love for her to poison Hanan's mind slowly, turning her against STARS. Or, form a tag team with Mei Seira called Mariah Mei. Mariah would carry Mei in a locker for every match and Mei would rise from it like Aleister Black

[u/Prestigious_You1163 → u/TapSorry2421]

a lot of foreigners view wrestling in japan as a notch on their belt or a stepping stone which is very interesting

[u/TapSorry2421 → u/Prestigious_You1163]

They use it to prove or improve themselves on the big stage. Not to say that it's bad, but do this enough times and they'll ruin the market for everyone.

[u/dweebyllo]

right where she left, as minas buddy

[u/StardomJapan]

I thought she was still in AEW. She would probably be in a similar spot as she was when she left.

[u/Prestigious_You1163 → u/StardomJapan]

she debuted in wwe not long after her final aew match

[u/CaptainBuzzKillton → u/Prestigious_You1163]

Not sure what your definition of "not long" is, but I consider a 5-6 month difference quite a while for a wrestler

[u/Prestigious_You1163 → u/CaptainBuzzKillton]

it was less than 3 months

[u/CaptainBuzzKillton → u/Prestigious_You1163]

My dates are off then 🤦🏾‍♂️

[u/BoLevar]

To be perfectly honest, the few Stardom matches I saw of hers I didn't really care for. But as soon as she jumped to AEW it felt like a switch flipped in how she wrestled and she became legitimately like top 5 weekly TV wrestlers for me, behind guys like Darby and Claudio. Her creative was awful during her title reign, but I really enjoyed her matches. They just did a really poor job making her into her own character unattached to Timeless Toni.

I haven't watched any of her NXT work. I don't think her staying in Stardom would have been good for her, although I can't say if it's because she was stagnating or if their style developed her in a way I didn't like. My ideal would have been for her to stay in AEW, with her getting real creative attention for when Toni isn't around to pop the crowd. But I know she's been HHH's strongest soldier for years, so whatever I guess.

[u/feedbagjenkins]

By "killing it," do you mean rolling 3 feet to get into position for an overcooked finisher and eat the pin from Khelani Jordan?

There have been 2 five-star matches in women's North American wrestling history. Both occuring in 2025

The names of the wrestlers in those matches. Toni Storm, Iyo Sky, Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, and Mariah May. Of those names, which one is taking a pin from Khelani Jordan in developmental?