Mercedes Moné announced on Saturday that she had to relinquish her last belt she held. This was the APAC Women’s Title from the Malaysian promotion.
The founder of the promotion, Ayez Shaukat, posted a reply to clarify his side of the situation.
He wrote:
I woke up on 3 hours of sleep to a flood of texts, tags, and questions, so let me say this clearly. I have nothing but respect for Mercedes Moné. She is a global star, in high demand, and I understand that her schedule and travel limitations are real,” he wrote.
I do not blame her for this situation, and I appreciate the opportunity we had to work together. But the public narrative being pushed does not fully reflect what actually happened. We did try. We did explore working with other promotions, because that was what was asked of us. I personally reached out, followed up, and tried to make multiple scenarios work.
I also need to correct this clearly: I did not ask other promotions to fly my wrestler in for us. I have the text and email receipts to back that up, and I am prepared to stand on that truth if necessary. I have chosen not to post private communications lightly because I still believe in handling business professionally, but I will protect my name when needed,” he continued.
For more context, I was even willing to go beyond our limits on my side. I openly said I would take on extra work and secure sponsors to try and bring Mercedes to Malaysia. That ultimately was not workable, which I understand, so we were pushed to explore solutions abroad instead.
I would have genuinely loved to make something work with Arek in Poland and Hal in France. Both were respectful, professional, and tried to find real solutions. I appreciate both of them for that. But when we looked at the full picture, it simply did not make business sense financially for us.
I also want to address Winnipeg Pro Wrestling. Our interaction was minimal. I reached, was initially ignored, and only received a single response declining based on budget and their story direction, which I respected. That was the extent of it. So the public version being pushed does not reflect my actual communication with them. Again, I have receipts for that. I am not here to tear anyone down or create more drama.
To Mercedes, I sincerely apologize for any public discomfort this has caused. I still have respect for you, and I understand you are likely speaking from what was communicated to you.
I am only here to stand on the truth, protect my name, protect my company, and move forward with dignity.
APAC Wrestling will keep building. We will keep fighting. And we will keep representing Malaysia with pride.
Yours truly,
Ayez Shaukat
Founder of APAC Wrestling
And with that, the APAC Wrestling Women’s Championship is officially vacant.
It appears that Moné would have faced Nor Phoenix Diana to lose the belt back to her.