In case you missed it, Tony Khan all but confirmed Mercedes Moné is headed to AEW. On Wednesday, he announced that the March 13 Dynamite will be the AEW Big Business show, which will emanate from the TD Garden in Boston.
To add to it, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful (via Fightful Select) and Mat Men Radio’s Andrew Zarian have learned that the former Sasha Banks has been on AEW’s payroll since “at least” early January. It was reiterated that Moné’s talks with WWE fell through by the end of December. At that time, the two sides couldn’t come to terms.
When that happened, Moné and AEW renewed their talks that had previously fallen through. This development led to an agreement coming to fruition. AEW had considered announcing Moné’s debut but opted for the TD Garden return route.
It was also noted that Moné was not ready for an in-ring return when there was previous buzz over her possibly debuting at AEW Grand Slam in September. This was also backed up by New Japan Pro-Wrestling, who wanted to book Moné vs. Giulia at one point. Plus, it was relayed to Fightful that NJPW has discussed and expects to have the ability to continue working with the former champion.
Moné has been out of action since May 21. She suffered an ankle injury while battling Willow Nightingale for the inaugural NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship at NJPW Resurgence. An audible was ultimately called for Nightingale to go over.
Since leaving WWE in May 2022, Moné has only worked a handful of matches for NJPW and STARDOM.
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