APAC Wrestling founder Ayez Shaukat addresses Mercedes Mone situation vacating his title

Ayez Shaukat, the founder of APAC Wrestling in Malaysia, used social media to clear some narratives following Mercedes Mone’s reveal that she vacated the APAC Women’s wrestling after the Malaysian promotion ran into financial trouble and couldn’t fly her in for a match.

Shaukat said he did not ask any other promotions to cover the cost to fly her in, and he was just trying to make it work for Mone to wrestle in a different indie promotion and drop the title there.

“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,” he wrote.

“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,” he continued.

Shaukat said that he tried to work with two promotions in Poland and France but ultimately, it did not make business sense financially for them. He also said he reached out to Winnipeg Pro Wrestling, where their interaction was minimal after he was initially ignored and then received one response declining the offer.

Regardless of what went down, Shaukat said he has nothing but respect for Mercedes Mone and does not blame her for the situation and loved the opportunity they had to work together.

“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,” he wrote, addressing the AEW star.

Shaukat added that APAC Wrestling operates without major sponsors and they often lose money running shows, so international travel and associated logistics add to that financial burden.

Mone defend Nor “Phoenix” Dina for the title om Mpve,ner 2025 at the HOG x The Big Event SuperClash 2025 in Brentwood, New York. The original plan had Mone travel to Malaysia to drop the title back to the Malaysian star in front of her home crowd.

“End result: Nor Phoenix Diana didn’t get closure. Just truth,” Shaukat concluded.