Despite loads of criticism upon joining AEW, Mercedes Mone is finding great success ever since joining the new promotion. Soon after joining the All Elite Wrestling, she won the AEW TBS Championship which is the biggest mid card price for women in the mentioned promotion. She is still holding on to the championship.
But she had to face a lot of criticism for her AEW career so far as well. Some of the biggest legends in wrestling history has also been critical about her AEW signing. Former WCW boss and WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff has also been quite critical about her signing as he said “Tony doesn't know how to produce her.” Get to know about the full story here.
Former World Champion Discusses Mercedes Mone’s Success in AEW
But there are big names who showed their support towards Mone for her work in the mentioned promotion so far. One of the names who backed her AEW work so far is former TNA World Champion Matt Hardy. Speaking on his “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” podcast, the tag team specialist said;
“Sasha Banks — Mercedes — is a WWE baby. You know, born and created and forged in the WWE. And with that very heavy character-driven — you know, I think that’s her instinct, I would imagine. Just because that’s how things are taught at WWE, as far as like finding a character and moving down a path where people get emotionally connected to you and what you’re doing.
Mercedes Mone Joined AEW in March 2024
“And then the work follows that and makes them even more if they enjoy the work as well. And you know, with AEW — and I’ve talked about this so many times. You know, kind of Tony Khan, the way he promotes his show and the way he promotes his product, ‘Where the best wrestle’ to a certain niche of the market that is more focused on wrestling and five-star matches and just the quality of wrestling more than the characters and the stories and whatnot.
“So I could see that kind of being something new to her if she’s getting there. And as you said, I think you made a great point when you said she’s trying to get over the CEO gimmick and she’s trying to do this, especially starting as a babyface, right? I think she was kind of figuring out her way as all that was going down.
Mercedes Mone was Famously Known as Sasha Banks in WWE
“And then once she realized like, ‘Oh, maybe I can tweak it up. And here it’s a little less about the persona.’ You can kind of tune it down a little bit, and they would rather tune up the work. So maybe that is what started clicking. Because it really is. It’s like two different audiences, you know if you’re playing to a WWE-type crowd to an AEW-type crowd.”
WWE fans kept on waiting for the return of Sasha Banks and as soon as she left the promotion, rumors started to float that she might return every now and then. There were rumors of her potential return before every WWE PLE. But ultimately, Sasha Banks did not return. Instead, we get Mercedes Mone, who is dominating AEW right now.
H/T - eWrestlingNews
