AEW Star Says Mercedes Mone’ Joining AEW Would Be A ‘Big Deal’

Mercedes Mone’, the former Sasha Banks in WWE, made her NJPW debut back at Wrestle Kingdom 17 earlier this week.

Sasha’s WWE departure was officially confirmed following her NJPW debut, when WWE moved her to the alumni page on their website.

Mercedes’ debut led to immediate speculation of an impending AEW debut, with fans believing her to be the mystery partner for Saraya on next week’s AEW Dynamite show in Kia Forum in Los Angeles.

AEW star Matt Hardy spoke about Mercedes’ debut on his Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, how he believes that she has bet on herself in a similar way that he did following his WWE departure.

He said:

“Good for her. She really bet on herself, and it’s hard for me not to appreciate that because I’m one of those guys too where I feel like Vince always knew that. I didn’t have to be in WWE. I’m not afraid to step out of Alexandria, a safe zone.

“I kind of compare Alexandria of the Walking Dead to WWE. If you stay inside and you have these walls, you’re gonna have a nice life and it’s safe and it’s easy, and you can make decent money, and it’s good. But you can go outside those walls, and you can survive on your own, but you have so hustle. So I have huge respect for anyone who is willing to leave WWE and go out and hustle on their own.

“I think Mercedes is killing it. She’s doing a great job at keeping herself relevant and keeping herself in conversations, being a huge talking point in the wrestling business. Showing up at New Japan and doing what she did was a big deal.”

Matt was then asked if he could see a spot for Mercedes in AEW following her WWE departure. Matt agreed that there was a spot for her in the company, but he could see her remaining a free agent.

He said:

“Yeah, without a doubt. I don’t even know if that would start… I could almost see her being a free agent for a while and just doing spots at AEW. I could definitely see that happening.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if she ends up showing up this coming up Dynamite as the mystery partner. It wouldn’t surprise me at all. I don’t know, I don’t have that information, but it wouldn’t surprise me.”

Matt was then asked what he thinks signing Mercedes would do for AEW, with Matt saying it could be like a ‘reverse’ of the Cody Rhodes moment.

He said:

“She’s a big star. There’s no if, ands, or buts about it. She really has put a ton of equity on her name, and on her character, on her identity as a pro wrestler. She’s been able to continue to hold that as she hasn’t even working with WWE. She’s kept herself in the headlines, which is great. Her coming to AEW would be a big deal. I feel like in some ways it would be very similar to, almost like a Cody situation in some ways. It’s like a huge jump, left WWE and came to AEW. It would have that feel, yeah,”

Mercedes is set for her first NJPW match next month, when she takes on KAIRI for the IWGP Women’s Championship at NJPW Battle in the Valley.

transcription via Fightful

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