Mariah May Is Now Blake Monroe (WWE News)

Mariah May is no more. Say hello to Blake Monroe.

by Andrew Pollard
Blake Monroe Mariah May
WWE

Having shocked the wrestling world by appearing on last week's NXT, Mariah May is no more. Instead, the former AEW Women's Champion will be going by the name Blake Monroe from here on out in WWE.

This name change was revealed last night in a vignette that pulled a smidge from old Hollywood newsreels, with an emphasis very much on the Glamour nickname, noting how "she's beauty, she's grace, she'll punch you in the face". After several teases, the Brit's NXT name was revealed as Blake Monroe.

It was also announced for next week's NXT that Monroe would be officially signing her contract with the brand, which follows the same path as relatively recent signing Ricky Saints. Likewise, Saints saw himself have a name change upon landing in WWE, with Absolute leaving his Ricky Starks moniker in the rearview mirror.

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For Blake Monroe, she'll be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Ricky. As in, the Stroke Daddy was quick to win gold after landing in NXT, with Saints becoming North American Champion less than two months after he debuted.

In the case of Monroe, she's already made it clear that she has NXT Women's Champion Jacy Jayne in her crosshairs. That said, Blake is not in the conversation for Jayne's next challenger, as the Fatal Influence star will be defending her gold at WWE Evolution next month against the winner of a tournament that starts next week. On that front, there will be four eliminator matches, with the winners of those matches facing off in a fatal four-way to determine Jacy's Evolution opponent. In those matches, we've got Lash Legend vs. Kelani Jordan, Zaria vs. Izzi Dame, Thea Hail vs. Jaida Parker, and Lola Vice vs. Jordynne Grace.

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All four of those eliminator contests will take place on next week's NXT, with the fatal four-way bout then taking place the following week. In addition to that, the 17 June episode will also see Trick Williams team with TNA's AJ Francis and KC Navarro to take on Elijah, Josh Briggs, and Yoshiki Inamura.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.