Mercedes Mone on leaving WWE: I didn’t like how the ‘chairman at the time’ talked down to me

While appearing on The Breakfast Club radio show in New York City, Mercedes Mone pointed to Vince McMahon as a key reason she decided to leave WWE.

The former Sasha Banks did not mention McMahon by name but said a lot of personal stuff happened between her and “the chairman at the time.” Mone did not like how McMahon talked down to her, which led to her walking out of WWE.

“I left for many different reasons,” Mone told The Breakfast Club. “A lot of personal stuff happened with myself and the chairman at the time, and I didn’t like how he talked to me and how I was, you know, just talked down to. And I was like, ‘It’s time to legit listen to your soul and your heart.’ There was a light that came to me one day and I just left WWE. My guides told me, and I’m guided to being a two-time champion at AEW.”

Mone and Naomi (who has since returned to WWE) both walked out of the company during an episode of Raw in May 2022. In her Breakfast Club interview, Mone said McMahon talked to her “a little crazy” that day — and something inside of her told her that she needed to stand up for herself.

“Yeah, a little crazy. That day he talked to me a little crazy,” she said. “It was enough for my source of light to come into my body and be like, ‘You know what, if you stay, that’s not ok. This is for the rest of your life. And what are you going to teach your kids? What are you going to teach people? If you’re feeling like this from words, after being here for 10 years, you’ve got to stand up for yourself.’ And that’s what I did.”

When asked if there were any protections for women’s wrestlers in WWE, Mone responded: “No, but we’re changing that every day. I’m changing that every day for women’s wrestling. We went to everybody, and no. There wasn’t.”

McMahon is no longer with WWE following his January 2024 resignation. But with how well she’s been treated in AEW, Mone does not see herself going back to WWE.

“After the way that AEW has been treating me, I don’t know. I don’t think so,” she told The Breakfast Club. “I feel like I have the best relationship with AEW right now. And it’s legit, I’m living my dreams and it’s the best place I’ve ever been mentally and physically. And to be able to have new dreams after being in the industry for 14 years, it’s the best feeling in the world. So AEW is my home right now.”