Mercedes Moné makes a bold claim ahead of AEW in-ring debut at Double or Nothing 2024
Mercedes Mone has made a bold claim ahead of her AEW in-ring debut at Double or Nothing 2024. The CEO is set to take on Willow Nightingale for the TBS Championship in the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The bout will be Mone's first match since suffering a nearly career-ending injury at the hands of the 2023 Women's Owen Hart Cup winner during their NJPW Strong Women's Title match at Resurgence last year, in which Nightingale emerged as the victor.
During an interview with The Ringer, Mercedes Mone opened up about her feelings ahead of making her comeback to the squared circle. She confessed to experiencing some nervousness given her lengthy in-ring absence, but expressed confidence in herself and Nightingale as capable of putting on a show-stealing performance.
"I don't want to put pressure on myself because I've been doing this for 14 years," Mone said. "I have more excitement than pressure, but I am really nervous as well, just because it's been a year since I performed, but being in the ring with someone like Willow Nightingale, I know it's going to be absolutely everything I've ever dreamed of. We're going to go out there and steal the show." [H/T - WrestlingInc.]
AEW star Mercedes Mone calls herself the greatest women's wrestler of all time
Mercedes Mone broke out as a performer during her time in WWE. The Boss attained considerable success in the Stamford-based promotion as a singles and tag team competitor, but would walk out of the company in 2022, reportedly owing to creative frustrations.
Shortly afterwards, the former Smackdown Women's Champion made her debut in NJPW at Wrestle Kingdom 17 with the new gimmick of The CEO. She had a brief, albeit successful, run in the promotion, where she formerly held the IWGP Women's Championship. However, her run in the Tokyo-based promotion came to a halt after her injury at NJPW Resurgence 2023.
Mone made her AEW debut on Dynamite: Big Business earlier this year. She is poised to wrestle Willow Nightingale in her first match for the Tony Khan-led promotion at AEW Double or Nothing 2024. In the same interview with The Ringer ahead of the pay-per-view, the 32-year-old star distinguished her former Sasha Banks gimmick with that of her current CEO character, and claimed to be the greatest women's wrestler across time.
“They know who Sasha Banks is, but The CEO, Mercedes Moné, is something they’ve never seen before, and I’m ready to show them. I’m the greatest women’s wrestler of all time, 100 percent!'' she said.
It remains to be seen whether Mercedes Mone will win gold in her very first in-ring outing in AEW.