Blake Monroe has responded to Mark Henry’s recent praise of her old-school in-ring approach, telling Vicente Beltrán that the WWE Hall of Famer’s comments made her smile and that the “wrestler’s wrestler” framing is exactly the identity she plans to bring to her SmackDown debut whenever it happens.
Monroe was called up to the WWE main roster late last month with a vignette airing on the April 24 episode of SmackDown. She has not yet made her in-ring SmackDown debut. Mark Henry, who worked alongside Monroe during her AEW run as Mariah May, recently described her as “an old school, throwback wrestler” in his assessment of her main roster prospects.
Speaking with Vicente Beltran, Monroe reflected on the comments and her self-image.
“That means a lot. I mean, I love Mark Henry. I was smiling while reading that, which I don’t often smile. It did make me really happy because I do think I’m pretty old school and pretty traditional. You know, I’m a wrestlers’ wrestler, and if you look at my journey and moving all around the world and getting good at this craft, I think, like I said, Blake Monroe has something that not every woman has. And don’t get me wrong, everybody’s journey is special, but I’m a wrestler’s wrestler, and I think you’re going to see that when I do eventually decide to debut on SmackDown.”
Monroe floated the idea of her SmackDown debut potentially happening during the European Summer Tour, when the show heads to Spain. WWE has not formally announced her debut date.
Before debuting in AEW as Mariah May in late 2023, she competed across the world, including a Stardom run where she became Goddesses of Stardom Champion with Mina Shirakawa. She held the inaugural Slammaster Women’s Championship and the United Wrestling Network Women’s Championship across her independent stretch. As Mariah May in AEW, she was the AEW Women’s World Champion and her feud with Toni Storm is one of the most praised women’s wrestling rivalries of the past several years.
If you use quotes from this article, please credit Vicente Beltrán and include a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
