The wrestling world is awaiting the return of ‘The CEO’.
Former IWGP Women’s Champion Mercedes Moné has been absent from in-ring action since May of last year after suffering a serious ankle injury during her NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship match against Willow Nightingale, although reports are suggesting that a return to the ring is imminent.
Ahead of her highly anticipated return, Moné joined the Kick Rocks Wrestling Podcast to discuss a number of topics, the first of which being the reasoning behind walking out of WWE alongside Naomi in May 2022 whilst reigning as WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions.
“Something inside of me told me I needed to do this & stand up for myself. It was a very hard decision because wrestling in WWE has been my whole life. If people don’t know, it’s been my whole life. It’s the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make in my whole life. But it’s the most proudest. It’s crazy because I would not be sitting here living the best version of my life, in getting to be everything I’ve ever dreamt of. I get to be everything I dreamt of and more. And it makes me so excited because that moment changed my whole life for the better. I’m so thankful for that moment, so proud of myself, I’m so proud of Trinity, I’m so proud of just how strong we were. Because like you said, everybody wanted to talk about it, everybody wanted to act like they were in the room, I just know that everybody acted like they were in the room or worked there, or were backstage, or knew what happened, or knew what said…but all I know is that I handled it like a CEO, like the boss that I am, with my head held up high & I can’t say nothing but amazing things to WWE, Im so thankful for the career they gave me, the fans they gave me, the life they gave me, the dreams they gave me. So many dreams and I got to chase and live them all. I get to do so much more, and like I said I have a lot of unfinished business in wrestling.”
-Mercedes Moné
Staying on the topic of WWE, Mercedes touched on how proud she is of Bayley after securing a WWE Women’s Championship match against IYO SKY at WrestleMania 40 by winning this year’s Women’s Royal Rumble.
Moné believes that her former tag partner and best friend should main event WrestleMania, and highlighted how cool its been to see her gain momentum after a lengthy absence through injury.
“I am nothing but so proud and so happy for her. And to be the person from afar, I get to see her from afar I get to see her do all this and see all her hard work, and hear her talk about her dreams and her hopes and what she wants to do in that business, and to see it come through and to see so much magic that woman can make. She does so much for that division, and I’m just beyond proud to know, to me, that she is going to Main event WrestleMania because that’s how it should be. I am just beyond the moon for her. She’s had a crazy past three years coming from the pandemic, getting injured, seeing her go through that.”
-Mercedes Moné
Prior to sustaining the aforementioned ankle injury, Moné found herself living out her dreams as she competed in Japan for both New Japan Pro Wrestling and STARDOM, where she captured the IWGP Women’s Championship from inaugural Champion KAIRI before being dethroned by Mayu Iwatani.
Despite putting a temporary stop to her own momentum and plans, Mercedes is able to reflect back on her 10 months away from the ring and appreciate the chance it gave her to slow down and map out her future.
“I’ve spent the last 10 months thinking about how much unfinished business I have in wrestling and how much I was on a hunger tour goal. I was so focused and so ready for my plans to succeed in 2023, and for that (injury) to happen to me taught me so much about life, and it just taught me to even slow down even more and to heal. Prior to that, a lot happened to me, a lot of hurt happened and a lot of healing needed to happen, and I was still just going so fast because I love wrestling so much and I couldn’t be away from it. But I wasn’t healed inside that I think it was just a message like ‘you gotta slow down and figure out what’s next for you and what are your plans, your plans are good but I think you need to reevaluate them a little bit more’ and just the whole time I was injured, I couldn’t walk for 3 months.”
-Mercedes Moné
On February 8th this year, Fightful Select reported that Mercedes is heading to All Elite Wrestling and has been on the company’s payroll for some time now.
Next week’s episode of AEW Dynamite being given the ‘Big Business’ tag line all but confirmed her imminent arrival in the eyes of many fans, and considering the wording she used when commenting on her upcoming return to the ring, it appears as good as certain that Mercedes will make her debut next week in Boston.
“I feel more ready and more better than ever, and I cannot wait to see all my prior plans of 2023 come into fruition in 2024. I’ve been making some really big moves. Big business moves and big money moves.”
-Mercedes Moné
On top of return to professional wrestling, Moné also has her sights set on a number of other endeavours, including releasing music and furthering her acting career.
“I’ll be releasing music this year, I’m still acting and got some amazing, amazing things in the works and I got to audition for incredible roles in movies, so we gotta keep manifesting great things about that, and I finally think I found a home in a Wrestling place.”
-Mercedes Moné
Mercedes Moné’s decision to walk out of WWE in May 2022 and her subsequent success in Japan further proved that there are other pathways to becoming a star in this industry outside of WWE.
That’s a message Moné hopes the next generation of talent are able to keep in mind, emphasising the importance of broadening their horizons when looking to make their way to the top of the sport.
“They (young wrestlers) should never think that there’s one place. I knew that from the beginning because there’s wrestling everywhere. And wrestling is for everybody. I don’t think you should just like one company, you should open your eyes to so many things. Because your favourite wrestlers come from all different companies.”
-Mercedes Moné
Throughout her career, Moné has made her love for numerous wrestling legends well known, often pointing out the influence that Eddie Guerrero and the stars off All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling have had on her own moveset and in-ring style.
Whilst in Japan, Mercedes had the chance to meet both Manami Toyota and Aja Kong, two legends of Joshi wrestling who have undeniably had an impact on her own love for professional wrestling.
“To go to Japan and meet my idol, my hero. It’s like meeting the female Eddie Guerrero for me. Manami Toyota & Aja Kong, I literally have goosebumps. It was one of the greatest days of my whole life”
-Mercedes Moné
Looping back to her imminent return, Mercedes’ excitement is apparent as she prepares for what she believes will be the greatest run of her career.
“I’m going to come back really soon and have the greatest time, the greatest matches, the greatest career I’ve had yet. Because I see it, I feel it, and I know it.”
-Mercedes Moné
To close, Moné reflected on the hard work she’s put in to get her to the point and claimed that the next generation of women’s wrestlers who have been inspired by her work this far should keep her eyes on her next moves.
“I’m seeing the work that I put in from 10 years ago happening to this day. I see the young girls that are training and have a passion because of the matches they’ve seen me do, but just wait. Wait until they see what else they see me do.”
-Mercedes Moné
AEW: Big Business is set for March 13th at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, with Moné expected to officially become ‘All Elite’ in her hometown.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on the future of Mercedes Moné as soon as we hear more.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to WrestlePurists.com for the transcription.
