Tony Khan issues clarification and reveals the real reason why Mercedes Mone was at AEW All In
AEW All In 2023 is in the books, and one of the things it would be remembered for is Mercedes Mone's (fka Sasha Banks) surprisingly showing up. Tony Khan has now provided an update on Mone's status and whether she will be wrestling for All Elite Wrestling moving forward.
The AEW boss clarified that, as things stand, the former WWE Women's Champion does not have the clearance to wrestle as she is dealing with an injury. In case you didn't know, Mone hurt her ankle during her last match in May and has since been out of action.
The injury, though, didn't stop Mercedes from making the trip to London, where she witnessed AEW's biggest show ever. While responding to Italian journalist Luca Carbonaro's question during the media scrum, Tony Khan addressed Mone's current status, seemingly confirming that AEW and the star don't have a deal in place just yet.
"She is not cleared, Mercedes Mone. So, I think it was great to have her here. She last competed for New Japan Pro Wrestling, so I thought it would be excellent to have one of the top international stars in all of pro wrestling here. The last time we saw Mercedes Mone compete, she was actually competing against our very own Willow Nightingale," said Khan. [From 41:00 onwards]
Khan explained that the idea behind getting Mone to Wembley was to have an international star in attendance. Tony kept clarifying that AEW and Mercedes hadn't discussed long-term plans as she was still nursing an ankle injury.
"There is a lot of exciting pro wrestling; I thought it would be great to have her here and see all the matches, including the AEW Women's World Championship. But she is not cleared since her injury; I just thought it would be good to have her take in the show." [From 41:40 to 42:00]
Tony Khan wanted Mercedes Mone to "take in" the atmosphere at AEW All In 2023
As announced by the company, AEW broke the record for having the most number of paid attendees in the building, having officially sold 81,035 tickets for the evening.
It was a special night for Khan and his team as All Elite Wrestling delivered an action-packed PPV that featured several moments, such as title changes, insane spots, and much more. The Wembley fans were at their loudest throughout the long show, and it felt like the perfect advertisement for the AEW product.
Tony Khan also stated that one of the goals behind Mercedes Mone being at All In was for her to get a feel of AEW and its most immense undertaking.
While Khan said there were many possibilities in Mercedes' case, he was clever in not committing to anything regarding her future:
"Definitely a lot of potential things to happen there, and I know New Japan Pro Wrestling has had a great experience working with her [Mercedes Mone], so I thought it would be great, given that she is not cleared but wanted to take in the biggest paid pro wrestling crowd of all time and see what AEW is all about. Thought it would be good for her to be here, but obviously, she is not wrestling or cleared or doing anything anytime soon." [From 42:01 - 43:00]
Did you check out Mercedes Mone's tribute to Bray Wyatt during her All In appearance? You can do that right here.