Willow Nightingale Running On Smiles, Passion & Heart Going Into AEW All In: London (Exclusive)

Over her past four years with the company, Willow Nightingale has blossomed into one of the most beloved female stars on the AEW roster.

This made it special for fans to watch "The Babe With The Power" make history when she defeated Thekla to win the AEW Women's World Championship and become the first ever Grand Slam Champion in the history of the AEW women's division.

Now heading into AEW All In: London on Sunday, Nightingale is preparing for the biggest match of her career against her longtime rival, and back-to-back Owen Hart Foundation Women's Tournament winner, Mercedes Monè inside of Wembley Stadium.

Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Moné | All Elite Wrestlin

However, Nightingale will walk into this battle with a broken hand following an attack from Monè on the August 26 episode of AEW Dynamite. Despite this, Willow maintains her always positive demeanor just days before the show.

"I'm doing good aside from this hand situation," Willow Nightingale told The Takedown on SI during the AEW All In London media junket. "I am still very much looking forward to All In. I'm still feeling good about my chances going in."

"I'm a fighter, that's what I do and when my back is against the wall, I'm gonna give it my all. Oh my God, that rhymed and I didn't mean it to. (laughs)"

Overcoming injury and adversary has become part of Willow Nightingale's DNA

This hand injury for Nightingale marked her second in recent months after suffering a serious shoulder injury that forced her to relinquish the TBS Championship and her spot in this year's Owen Hart Foundation Women's Tournament before being replaced by eventual winner Monè herself.

"You know what's crazy is I'm not like an old lady, but I'm older than I was when I started (laughs)." Willow said. "As time naturally makes things happen. I started when I was about 20, I'm 32 now and I remember people being like 'once you turn 30, that's when the aches and pains start, that's when things start hurting' and that did happen."

"And I've had like small injuries kind of start creeping in and I've had to transform with that and kind of learn to adapt, but ultimately it hasn't kept me back. It's not gonna keep me back, I won't let it. Yeah, so we're gonna do what we always do, which is put that smile on our face, keep our head down, work hard and do it for what's in our heart."

This highly anticipated AEW Women's World Championship match will mark the fourth meeting between Willow and Mercedes (third bout in All Elite Wrestling).

Back in 2023, Nightingale first made history when she pulled off an upset win over Monè to become the first ever NJPW STRONG Women's Champion. Looking back on her mindset going into that contest, Nightingale believes it was completely different than where she is now in her career.

#AEWAllIn London
6pm BST/1pm EST/10am PST on PPV
TOMORROW
AEW Women's World Title@WillowWrestles vs @MercedesVarnado
Willow Nightingale faces rival & #OwenCup Winner Mercedes Moné!
Willow & Mercedes fight for the AEW Women's World Title at Wembley Stadium, TOMORROW! pic.twitter.com/GiQE5KZ1ig
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) August 29, 2026

"It's crazy to even kind of think about where my head was with myself, like how I felt about myself, my career, how other people perceived as well as the relationship I had with Mercedes because at that point I hadn't met, I didn't know her," Willow stated. I was admittedly a fan of hers, right, like no matter how I feel about her now like she is still incredibly influential throughout the landscape of professional wrestling, let alone women's wrestling. So respect was at the helm."

"A little bit of apprehension, I would say, just to be like, 'am I ready for this? Can I hang?' I guess is kind of how I felt. Versus now, it's kind of like friendship out the window, respect out the window, proving myself not necessarily a concern, right. And more of just standing my ground and knowing myself, so that is a very big difference. I would say 180 if you will."

The 2023 match saw Monè suffer a serious ankle injury that had her out of action for nearly a year. However, Mercedes would go to return and signed with All Elite Wrestling where she beat Nightingale to become the new TBS Champion at AEW Double Or Nothing in 2024.

This started a record-breaking 584-day TBS Title reign for Monè that was eventually ended by none other than Willow Nightingale at AEW Dynamite: New Year's Smash in 2025.

Now, Monè will look to avenge this loss and finally win the one title that has eluded since signing with AEW. Meanwhile, Nightingale will look to shut up Mercedes once and for all, while holding onto her gold at All In London 2026.

All this history has led some fans to debate whether Willow is Mercedes' greatest rival and where this feud ranks among the best AEW has ever produced, but Nightingale tries her best to not think about those things heading into this all important showdown in Wembley Stadium.

"It's interesting because I try not to compare myself to others, which is incredibly hard to do," Nightingale admitted. "It's naturally the thing I want to do and been struggling with for a huge part of my life, but I think what makes me special is that I find my own lane, I stick to it and whatever I'm the best at, I go with that".

"So I'm not here to say I'm somebody's best rival, we got the best feud. All I know I'm running on smiles, passion and heart. Mercedes is also running on passion and heart, but maybe I don't know, scowls instead of smiles. And when the ying and yang clash, something kind of magical happens, the people seem into it."

That magic that Mercedes and Willow create together is why many fans are anticipating their match more than any other on the AEW All In: London card.

Despite the animosity and heat between Monè and herself, Willow knows that sometimes in pro wrestling you need this kind of rivalry.

"It kind of makes my life miserable because I gotta keep dealing with her, but ultimately, this is professional wrestling, this is what thrive off of. You kind of need the yang to your ying, so where we rank, I don't know. Anybody watching, thank you, and I'm gonna beat the piss out of her."

Willow Nightingale will look to score her third victory over Mercedes Monè when she defends the AEW Women's World Championship at All In: London. The event will take place on Sunday, August 30 from Wembley Stadium. Fans can order the show on PPV, HBO Max or the MyAEW app in the United States or internationally.

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