Mercedes Mone doesn’t believe she’s in competition with WWE.
In an interview with US Weekly ahead of her AEW in-ring debut, the former Sasha Banks said she doesn’t believe there should be competition between wrestling companies. She’s only competing with everyone else in AEW to be the face of the promotion.
“I feel like there should be no competition when it’s between companies,” Mone said. “It just needs to be competition between the wrestlers, seeing who wants to be the main event of the show, to make the most money. I’m competing with everybody here in AEW to let them know I’m the face of the company. I’m not competing with any other company.”
Mone thinks fans on the internet are what’s fueling the AEW vs. WWE tribalism. But while that can make for toxic discourse online, Mone knows the dynamic is different in real life.
“A lot of things just trail from the internet,” she told US weekly. “People are just so in their phones. Going on the internet and bragging and complaining and they’re not actually living in the real world. When they come out into the real world and they actually go to wrestling shows and enjoy things with wrestling fans, they know that this is all just so much fun.
“People just like to drag things and be mean on the internet just to be mean on the internet. When they come to these shows, it’s a whole different feeling.”
Mone was a top star for WWE before walking out of the company in 2022. At Double or Nothing this Sunday, she will wrestle her first AEW match. Mone is challenging Willow Nightingale for the TBS Championship.
This will be Mone’s first time competing in the ring since May 2023, when she suffered an ankle injury while facing Nightingale at an NJPW event.
Source: Mercedes Mone: There should be ‘no competition’ between AEW & WWE
