A new report details Mercedes Mone‘s reasons for choosing AEW over going back to WWE.
Mercedes Mone is officially All Elite, making her official debut on March 13th at the Big Business edition of AEW Dynamite. On the night, she cut an impassioned promo about wanting to help expand wrestling worldwide, particularly when it comes to the women’s division.
Following her debut, it was reported that Mone is among the highest-paid women in wrestling today.
Prior to her officially becoming All Elite, reports swirled that Mercedes Mone was also in talks with WWE, though those talks eventually fizzled out. PWInsider sheds light on Mone’s decision to sign with AEW over WWE, noting that while WWE were also willing to offer the star a salary in the eight-figure range, the star ultimately decided to go with the company she felt had the most potential, both for her personally and to help grow women’s wrestling for future stars.
Continuing, PWInsider reports that going back to WWE would have seen Mone go somewhere she’d already been, and that WWE would leave less room for outside projects as the sports entertainment giant becomes a star’s number one priority upon signing. The report notes:
“With her role as Koska Reeves in The Mandalorian already beginning to open doors for her in the entertainment world and given the popularity of the merchandise related to that character, her WWE responsibilities would mitigate how far those potential doors might open for Mone in the future.
“In AEW, however, Mone saw more opportunity in that she could arrive as a full fledged top tier player for the company, giving them a female star that they could build around by bringing her goodwill and popularity as a ratings draw there, given that her WWE TV appearances usually meant a spike for those quarter hours.”
The report also notes that Mercedes Mone took into consideration where she could best build her own legacy and who would own that legacy when all is said and done. Mone currently owns the trademarks to her ring name and identity, something that would likely not be possible under a WWE contract. She also owns the rights to her theme song.
The report continues, explaining why Mone feels there will be more balance for her in AEW:
“At the end of the day, the belief from those close to Mone is that the best way she could keep developing and working on her passions beyond performing in the ring was to be in a place that would allow her to still develop her projects, not just sign up to return to WWE, where all her energy would be targeted on WWE 90% of the time. AEW provided more of a balance.”
“Someone Has To Draw The Line In The Sand” – PWInsider On Mercedes Mone’s Decision To Sign With AEW
According to PWInsider, Mone’s promo on Dynamite about taking things global was less about expanding All Elite Wrestling and more about expanding opportunities for women’s wrestling as a whole worldwide. The hope is that she’ll help create an environment where women’s wrestling is strong outside of WWE, and it was said to be an instance of “someone has to draw a line in the sand, so it’s going to be me.”
Ahead of her AEW debut, Mercedes Mone indicated that she could see herself ending up in WWE again, a comment that wasn’t well-received backstage in AEW. However, according to PWInsider, the comment wasn’t meant to ruffle feathers, but simply to acknowledge that she started in the sports entertainment giant and may return in the future.
The report compares Mercedes Mone’s potential influence in AEW to that of The Rock and John Cena in WWE, using outside success to build the promotion.