How Tyler Breeze helped Mercedes Moné get over fears of hurting herself after career-threatening injury
Mercedes Moné will make her AEW debut at the sixth annual Double or Nothing pay-per-view held later tonight. The former Sasha Banks of WWE trained with several familiar faces during her return from a long injury layoff, including Tyler Breeze.
Moné in fact, has not wrestled since suffering a severe ankle injury in May 2023 during her fight with Willow Nightingale for the inaugural NJPW Strong Women's Championship. Nightingale won the match in a change of plans but will now defend her AEW TBS Championship against Moné at Double Or Nothing tonight.
The Boss documented her recovery on social media, and she's been assisted by Breeze, who co-owns the Flatbacks Wrestling School in Florida, with Shawn Spears. The CEO spoke with The New York Post to promote tonight's match and recalled how the potentially career-threatening injury gave her the most pain in the first week after the surgery.
The 32-year-old was unable to walk on the injured foot for months, and learning how to do things without a lot of help taught her about patience and the power of the human body. She felt she needed these lessons when it was time to get back in the ring, with legitimate fears of another injury. The fear took a while to get rid of, and she thanked training partner Breeze for helping her get there.
"When I first started to train, just running ropes hurt and that scared me. I’m like, ‘No way I’m going the path to feel this pain my whole life.’ Finally, it got better and little things stopped hurting and finally Breeze pushed me to do some of my moves that I was gonna do like double knees and going off the top rope. I hit them, so the fear was gone. Everything felt back to normal and I’m ready," said Mercedes Moné.
Mercedes Moné said she trained at every wrestling school in the Orlando area over the past year, working with names like Scrypts, Lince Dorado, and Sumie Sakai, among others. Despite previous reports on when she was medically cleared, the multi-time WWE champion says she was cleared to compete in December, adding that she feels like she's in the best shape of her life.
Mercedes Moné hypes AEW in-ring debut
Mercedes Moné will challenge TBS Champion Willow Nightingale at tonight's AEW Double Or Nothing pay-per-view.
Moné took to Instagram this week and shared a clip that included footage of her recent training sessions while recovering from injury. She looked back on her recovery and looked ahead to the future while thanking everyone around her who helped her in this process.
"Been looking forward to this moment for quite some time [fire emoji] Ever since my injury, it’s been a hard battle trying to get back into the ring. Now, Double or Nothing is right around the corner and I will be making my AEW in-ring debut doing what I love most! I am beyond excited for what’s to come and I hope I have my All Elite Krew behind me to cheer me on!," Mercedes Moné wrote with the full post seen below.
Nightingale became the TBS Champion on April 21 by defeating Julia Hart at AEW Dynasty. She has defended the title against Skye Blue and Tam Nakano since then.