Mercedes Mone is in high demand these days.
And now she knows it for a fact.
“The CEO” and TBS Champion spoke with BT and Sal on WFAN to promote her champion versus champion showdown against NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer at the AEW & NJPW: Forbidden Door 2024 pay-per-view tonight at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, and reflected on exploring the free agent market prior to landing in All Elite Wrestling.
“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,'” Mone said. “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.”
When asked if she needed to experience the show live to really make her decision, she admitted that being at AEW ALL IN at Wembley Stadium in London, England in person last year convinced her that AEW is where she should be.
“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,” she said. “Out there, I was like, ‘this is so amazing.’ To have 80,000 fans in U.K., it let me know wrestling is so special and there doesn’t have to be one place for wrestling.”
Check out the complete interview via the YouTube player embedded below. H/T to Fightful.com for transcribing the above quotes.
