Mercedes Mone knew about her AEW debut for ‘a while’ before Big Business

Before Big Business, Mercedes Mone knew for “a while” that she’d be debuting for AEW.

Mone made her AEW debut on the Big Business edition of Dynamite last month. Built around Mone’s arrival, the show was held in her hometown of Boston.

AEW will be back in Massachusetts when Dynamite takes place from the DCU Center in Worcester this Wednesday. To promote that event, Mone was a guest on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Stick to Wrestling podcast. Host James Stewart asked Mone how long in advance she knew about her AEW debut:

I knew for a while. That’s why it’s all about big business – I am big business, baby. I am the CEO of AEW. So me and Tony [Khan] have been planning things for a while, and we’re just in the works of just so many more incredible things.

Prior to deciding to sign with AEW, Mone had been talking with Tony Khan for “quite some time.” She felt like now was the right time for her to join the company.

Mone responded when asked about the first time Khan reached out to her:

It was amazing. We’ve been talking for quite some time now and I just think the alignment just felt so right now in 2024. And, yeah, it’s just been so many beautiful things in the works. When he called me the first time, I’m like, ‘I’ll think about it TK. We gotta build this relationship. You know, let me keep on watching. Let me keep on seeing this women’s division.’ And I kept on watching the women’s division and my dreams just became so much bigger and brighter – and I knew instantly I wanted AEW to be my home.

Though Big Business was her debut, it wasn’t Mone’s first on-camera appearance at an AEW event. She was shown in the Wembley Stadium crowd at All In last August.

Mone was still out of action with an ankle injury when she appeared in the crowd at All In. She’s now been cleared to compete. When Mone makes her AEW in-ring debut, it will be the first time she’s wrestled since May 2023.