There is the belief that Mercedes Mone’s star power beyond wrestling has a similar effect to that of the top Hollywood stars who began their careers in WWE.
As has been seen on numerous occasions in WWE, legends such as The Rock and John Cena have gone on to have successful careers in Hollywood. When these top stars return, ratings for Raw or SmackDown generally spike and there is a feeling that the show will be bigger than normal.
With Mone becoming an established name outside of wrestling, there is hope that this will continue in AEW and will have a similar effect to Rock and Cena appearances. Along with her previous successes in WWE, Mone has starred in the hit Disney+ series The Mandalorian and made her movie debut in 2023 starring in The Collective.
A comprehensive report by PWInsider, which has spoken to sources from both WWE and AEW, has elaborated on Mone’s decision to ultimately sign with AEW and what her goals are moving forward. It is stated in the report that Mone is looking to create more opportunities for female wrestlers in terms of both a cash and creative standpoint:
We are told by those close to the situation that Mone, who made the final call on where to land, wants to shake up the overall system for pro wrestling and create new opportunities for women to get a higher premium financially as well as more opportunities down the line as new generations of women pursue professional wrestling.
Mone’s debut on Dynamite saw her cut an impassioned promo about taking “this global” and we are told that the global reference was not so much about expanding AEW itself, but by pushing women’s wrestling itself and expanding its reach. We are told the hope is for Mone to carry women’s professional wrestling forward to a place where overall, it’s in a stronger position outside of WWE across the world through her exploits in AEW and beyond. It was very much a “someone has to draw the line in the sand, so it’s going to be me” sort of moment.
Later in the report, it is stated that if Mone does have mainstream success similar to that of other wrestlers turned actors then there is an optimism that this will be reflected in the ratings:
The belief among some in AEW is that Mone could potentially fill the type of role that The Rock and John Cena have with WWE, someone who can take their outside success and cascade it back to the company. There is a hope that she will bring the goodwill she built with the audience to AEW.
We are told she is approaching the run not as someone looking to take oxygen out of the locker room but as someone hoping to expand everything for everyone, especially the women’s roster so that she can elevate the entire company and hopefully make their talents more mainstream, sort of similar to what Kevin Nash and Scott Hall did for WCW decades ago. We will see if that can be the case.
Mercedes Mone Addresses Contract Reports
With Mone choosing to become All Elite instead of returning to WWE, many were under the impression that Tony Khan paid a high price to secure The CEO to his promotion. Speaking in an interview about the signing, Mercedes Mone addressed the contract reports.