Mercedes Mone made her AEW debut at Dynamite: Big Business in March 2024.
Mone had signed with NJPW in January 2023 but missed most of the year due to an ankle injury and remained a free agent.
In a recent interview with WFAN, Mone was asked about her experience as a free agent. She said,
“In a sense, I enjoyed it, because I was like, ‘I can’t believe how many companies want me so bad and how many lucrative deals were put on the table. Which one do I choose? Which one do I want? It was also scary at the same time because WWE is WWE. I was like, ‘Do I go back?’ My heart was saying, ‘Don’t go back, go forward.’ I kept hearing that in my head. ‘Keep going forward.’ They keep offering me things and they keep asking me to come back. ‘Mercedes, go forward.’ New Japan came about. CMLL. AEW. Just having the conversation with Tony (Khan). It took about two years of having conversations. ‘Will this work? Is this what I want? Is this what my heart wants?’ Finally, I went to All In at Wembley. Being in the crowd and seeing how 80,000 fans, it wasn’t WrestleMania, it was AEW All In. I was like, ‘This is where I want to be. I want to be here and this company feels aligned with my soul.’ We kept talking and I got the most amazing contract in wrestling history…I can watch it on TV all day, every week, but I had to be there in person and get a sense of the talent, the audience, and a sense of how they all operated. Out there, I was like, ‘this is so amazing.’ To have 80,000 fans in UK, it let me know wrestling is so special and there doesn’t have to be one place for wrestling.”
Mone also explained why she prefers AEW to WWE. The AEW TBS Champion said,
“I love being part of AEW because there’s just so many doors of opportunity for me. Not just in wrestling but outside of wrestling. That’s definitely a big reason why I came to AEW. Even doing The Mandalorian was pulling teeth with the WWE to even try to get time off to film that show.”
Mone will battle NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer in a Winner Takes All match tonight at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door 2024.
