Mercedes Mone says women’s division is why she wanted to be in AEW

Mercedes Mone and Tony Khan have been meeting with the media today following last night’s AEW Big Business. 

Mone spoke with Sports Illustrated about signing with AEW and the injury she suffered at NJPW Strong Resurgence in May. 

Mone said: 

I want to be here, I need to be here, and it’s because of the women’s division. The women here laid the foundation. They’re the reason I want to be in AEW. We’re going to make so much magic here.

She would later add:

This is a global revolution, that’s why I’m here. You don’t think I can take this around the globe? Well then, let me show you I can. My heart is here. My dreams are here. I love wrestling. I’m a leader, and I’m going to lead.

Mone’s debut opened up Wednesday’s show and she returned in the main event segment as well to rescue Willow Nightingale from an attack by Julia Hart and Skye Blue. 

“F— yeah, I needed to open the show,” said Mone, before adding: 

 All day, I was so full of energy. Ten minutes before the show, I was in gorilla. I could feel the energy in the building. When my music hit, I felt the energy and I knew I was home.

And I’ve honestly been thinking about what I wanted to say for the past year. When I finally signed with AEW, I put even more thought into it. I decided to speak from my heart. That’s what I did, and the crowd made it so special for me. Everything started in Boston. I wouldn’t be ‘The CEO’ if it wasn’t for my time here.

Mone also spoke about the injury she suffered in May and being told it was “career-ending.”

She said:

I got an MRI in May, and the surgeon told me, ‘This is career-ending. That was the biggest shock in my whole life. I’d never really been injured like this before. My worst injury before this was from Hell in a Cell in 2019, when my pelvis was out of place for eight months. This was so much more painful. People thought it was just a broken ankle. I was non-weight bearing for three months. It was a fight every day.

It was devastating when I was told I was never going to come back. But I always knew I would be back, and I told that to my surgeon. Now I’m healthy and my surgeon is calling his mentor saying, ‘Look at what happened here, it’s incredible.’ I don’t like being told no. I always believed I would be back, and now it’s true.

Tony Khan also spoke with The Boston Globe about Mone’s debut at Big Business. 

Khan said: 

I think she’s one of the best wrestlers in the world,

I always want to get the best wrestlers in AEW, and that describes Mercedes perfectly.”

All of this was on pure speculation. Just a little bit of internet buzz where they put ’Bo$$ton’ on the Boston skyline, and fans were just speculating that it could possibly be me. They came from all over the world to see me debut tonight. It was unbelievable. Legit fans from London, UK, Mexico, Japan, and all over the United States came out. I am just over the moon.