Mercedes Mone is said to have given some backstage at AEW a negative impression before she even debuted with the promotion.
Days before becoming All Elite at AEW Dynamite: Big Business, Mone made a surprising statement about the future of her career. During an interview with The Kick Rocks Wrestling Podcast, she revealed her belief that she will return to WWE in the future.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reports her comments annoyed many figures at AEW and fueled scepticism that Mone is yet another former WWE star who simply sees AEW as a stepping stone on the road to a WWE return.
There was a controversy this past week regarding a Mercedes Mone interview on the Kick Rocks podcast. This was done before her AEW debut and never acknowledged going to AEW since the idea was for it to be a secret. Regarding WWE, she said, “I know I’m gonna be back there one day. Like I said, I have a lot of unfinished business in a lot of places.”
Boy did this one rub a lot of people the wrong way. Time will tell, and quite frankly she should always have it in her mind the possibility of going to WWE, but saying so days before she’s about to start in AEW wouldn’t be the right time politically to say that. There is a reality that some people consider AEW as the place they want to be and some see it as a place to make money until getting the call to come back. The latter group has in general been more of a detriment to the company. In her case, she negotiated with both sides, WWE didn’t give her the money she wanted and AEW did.
Could you imagine Jade Cargill or Cody Rhodes, right before her or his WWE debut saying that they know they’ll one day go back to AEW, and if they did, how do you think WWE would react? In time, this will play out as it does, but the people who were skeptical are now more skeptical. In the end, if she’s a long-term valuable asset to the company nobody will remember this statement. And if not, everyone will remember this statement.
Mercedes Mone Could Now Be The Highest-Paid Woman In Wrestling
Elsewhere in the same issue, Meltzer also noted that thanks to her new deal with AEW, Mercedes Mone is now potentially the highest-paid female professional wrestler in the industry.
The speculation comes from a current WWE female star who reportedly heard how much Mone was being paid. They are said to be thrilled to hear of the figure as it should have a positive impact on how much women throughout the industry are paid in the future.