Mercedes Mone wasted no time in making an impact within the AEW Women’s Division, but she took her biggest step yet towards Championship gold on tonight’s AEW Dynamite. Willow Nightingale came out to discuss her upcoming match against Julia Hart for the TBS Championship at AEW Dynasty, with Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway alongside her. Mone then came out to chants of CEO, and while she is excited to watch Nightingale take out Julia Hart at Dynasty, she had a big reveal of her own to share, as Mone called her shot at the TBS Championship. Whoever walks away from Dynasty as the Champ will then face Mone in her first AEW Title match at Double or Nothing.
Videos by ComicBook.com
After Nightingale spoke to Renee Paquette for a minute, Mone came out and joined the group. After chants of CEO rang out, Mone threw some praise Nightingale’s way. “Now Willow, I can’t wait to watch you tear it up with Julia at Dynasty,” Mone said. That’s when she revealed her next move, which could end up putting Nightingale right in her crosshairs.
Mone said, “Because whoever is going to be the TBS Champion at Double or Nothing, I get next. Because in Vegas, money changes everything.” Nightingale looked a little stunned at the news but Mone was pretty happy about the whole thing, which makes sense, as Mone is already in the Title hunt after just a few weeks of being in AEW. Mone has already had run-ins with Hart as well, so there will be some history between Mone and her opponent regardless of who walks away the winner at Dynasty.
Mone debuted for AEW at Big Business, which was also her return to wrestling after recovering from a substantial injury. That injury sidelined her for a big part of 2023, and brought a halt to her time working with New Japan Pro-Wrestling and NJPW Strong. That’s where the history started with Willow as well, as she was injured during her match with Willow for the NJPW Strong Women’s Championship. Now she’s back and ready to jump into her first Title match in AEW, and it should be a fun one to watch whether it ends up being Hart or Nightingale on the opposite side.
In a previous interview with the Kick Rocks Wrestling Podcast, Mone discussed her departure from WWE, calling it the hardest decision she’s ever had to make in her life, but also the proudest decision she’s made.
“Something inside of me told me that I needed to go do this and stand up for myself. It was a very hard decision because wrestling in WWE has been my whole life. People don’t know, it’s been my whole life,” Moné said. “It’s the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make in my whole life, but it’s the proudest. It’s crazy, because I would not be sitting here, living the best version of my life and getting to be everything I’ve ever dreamt of, and more. It makes me so excited because that moment changed my whole life for the better. I’m so thankful for that moment. I’m so proud of myself. I’m so proud of Trinity (Naomi), of just how strong we were.”
“Everybody wanted to talk about it. Everybody wanted to act like they were in the room. Everybody acted like they were in the room, or worked there, or were backstage, or knew what happened, or knew what was said,” Moné continued. “All I know is that I handled it like a CEO, like the boss that I am, with my head held high.”
Are you excited for Mone’s Title match at Double or Nothing? Let us know in the comments and you can talk wrestling with me on Threads @mattaguilarcb!
