Exclusive Interview Ahead of AEW Debut
Summary
– Mercedes Mone addresses competition in wrestling.
– She focuses on competing within AEW, not against other companies.
– Mone comments on online fan behavior and the real-life wrestling experience.
Mercedes Mone has shared her perspective on wrestling competition ahead of her AEW in-ring debut. In an interview with US Weekly, Mone expressed that she doesn’t believe wrestling companies should have competition. Instead, she aims to be the face of AEW and compete with her peers in the promotion.
Mone stated:
“I feel like there should be no competition when it’s between companies. 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.”
She also addressed the issue of fan-fueled tribalism online, suggesting that the internet exaggerates the rivalry between AEW and WWE. Mone believes that the dynamic is more positive in real life, where fans come together to enjoy wrestling events.
“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.”
Mone emphasized that the online negativity often does not reflect the real-life camaraderie and enjoyment found at wrestling shows:
“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 WWE star before leaving the company in 2022. She will wrestle her first AEW match at Double or Nothing this Sunday, challenging Willow Nightingale for the TBS Championship. This match marks Mone’s return to the ring after suffering an ankle injury in May 2023 while facing Nightingale at an NJPW event.
