Willow Nightingale will make her first All Elite Wrestling (AEW) Women’s World Championship defense later this month at the company’s biggest event of the year – All In.

Nightingale defeated Thekla for the title at Redemption back in July while her All In opponent – Mercedes Moné won the Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament to earn a chance at the championship.

For Nightingale, she said the feeling of being a champion didn’t initially set in for her until the “Dynamite” show following Redemption.

COMPLETE PRO WRESTLING COVERAGE ON OUTKICK

“I think initially when it happened, I didn’t entirely process it, especially like I always feel hung over the day after I wrestle just because it’s so, like, one, I’m getting a little bit older, but two, like you really are just putting everything out there,” she told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. “You’re giving your all and sometimes on show day I do my best to stay hydrated, but sometimes it just takes it all out of you. It dehydrates you a little bit. So, I’m like trying to deal with physically recovering from a match like that because, Thekla, she’s tiny, but she’s tough. She gave me hell. She made it really hard for me to get this championship. And my parents were there and then you immediately get thrown into the press conference into the scrum with Tony Khan, which is exciting. I love all that. I love all the hustle and bustle. I wouldn’t be in this crazy wrestling business if I didn’t love the hustle and bustle.

“But you don’t really get that moment to let it sink in. But the ‘Dynamite’ following Redemption, the Detroit crowd just showed me so much love and that’s really when it hit me. I was like, ‘Holy crap, I’m the world champion.’ So, it has hit me. But I think, going into All In, if I get like a successful title defense under my belt, especially against like Mercedes, I’ll feel kickass, unstoppable. That will be like the test.”

All In will take place on Aug. 30 at Wembley Stadium in London.

Nightingale is a fan favorite. She’s a member of The Conglomeration faction and is a two-time TBS champion, holding the belt for 140 days in her last reign before she was forced to relinquish the title due to an injury.

However, going into Wembley, Nightingale said she’s expecting a split crowd given the impact Moné has made on the pro wrestling industry throughout her career.

“So, I’m definitely expecting a split crowd. I’ll be completely honest,” she said. “One of my biggest strengths is I know the people are there for me, I know the people are cheering for me, but I would be a fool to not recognize the popularity of Mercedes, even though people see her ways. They see that she’s not truly like a good person at heart. There’s something about her that some people are drawn to. So, I am kind of anticipating that.

Willow Nightingale attends Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso Season 4 New York premiere at BAM Harvey Theater on Aug. 4, 2026, in New York. (Variety via Getty Images)

“My biggest strength maybe being a little torn, a little split, but as I mentioned, anytime you’re kind of at this caliber, we’re All Elite Wrestling. We’re All Elite, and I’m in world championship tier, right? I am the world champ. The people who are going to be facing me for this are going to be elite. They’re going to be bringing their best. They’re going to be giving their all. So, I have to go in already knowing it’s going to be a hard fight. Already knowing I’m going to have to push through when my body wants to give out.”

ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!

To beat Moné, Nightingale said she’ll have to tap into her mind and really dig down deep.

“A lot of it really comes down to like the mental toughness,” she said. “Like, can you tell yourself, when you feel like there’s nothing left, you can push a little more? You can give a little more? And then in a crazy stadium like that, with that many people, when they’re all looking down at you, you’re like, ‘Nope, I can’t embarrass myself. I can’t feel shame. I got to keep pushing.’ Which is a thing I’ve felt time and time again where it’s like, listen, you might feel tired. You might feel like you just want to get to the end, but don’t give up. So, I’m preparing myself for that moment.”

Just being in a marquee match at one of the biggest pro wrestling shows of the year is a highlight for Nightingale.

The 32-year-old New York native joined AEW in 2021 and success wasn’t exactly easy to come by. She started out on “AEW Dark: Elevation” and made appearances in Ring of Honor. During her first TBS Championship reign, she lost the title to Moné – who ended up holding it for 584 days.

SIGN UP TO GET THE LATEST SPORTS NEWS

Mercedes Mone enters the ring during the New Japan Pro-Wrestling – WRESTLE KINGDOM 17 in Tokyo Dome on January 04, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan. (Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)

Nightingale said she’s not taking it lightly that she’s been pushed to the top of the women’s division and has a real opportunity to prove herself as world champion.

“Well, I’ve always been a team player. Before I even got to AEW, like when it first started, when the company kind of first got off the ground and was starting to do weekly television, it was very intriguing to me,” she told Fox News Digital. “You know, before we started recording, we were talking about how I have this like tattoo art behind me. I used to work at a tattoo shop. I always felt a little bit like — not completely subculture because I know there’s all these different niches and people be like ‘you’re a poser, you’re not this’ — but I definitely felt like I followed the beat of my own drum and whenever everyone was zigging, I wanted to zag.

“And so, it was very exciting to have this alternative and to see something fresh and new, and I was like, ‘I want to be a part of that.’ I’ve been wrestling at that time maybe for already like six years or so, but I saw it and I was like, ‘That’s what I want to do. That’s where I want to be.’ And so then to work my way up through the card, through being on our YouTube show ‘Dark’ that we had, to kind of being in all these tags just to have a body in a match or whatever, to being a person who’s kind of like, ‘Oh, she’s got something. Let’s feature her.’ I always just wanted to do whatever was best by the company.

Willow Nightingale, current AEW Women’s World Champion, attends the premiere of Apple TV’s “Ted Lasso” Season 4 at BAM Harvey Theater in New York, N.Y., on Aug. 4, 2026. (Lev Radin/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“And now to be put in this position where it’s like the company is trusting me to put on the best show, to be one of the marquee headliners, to be the world champ, to put me in the position to fight for this and now defend it, I don’t take it lightly. I love AEW. I love the people who have that same mindset where we’re always pushing to be the best. You know, they say we’re the best wrestling, and for me to be at the top of that, is an honor that I just can’t blow. I can’t shrug it away. I got to bring the best.”