Mercedes Mone has opened up about the day her wrestling career changed forever when she left WWE.
Mone departed from WWE in May 2022 due to a disagreement with Vince McMahon, which resulted in her and Naomi walking out of the company. They were stripped of the Women’s Tag Team Titles and later got their release before she went to NJPW the following January. There, she debuted at Wrestle Kingdom 17 on January 4, 2023. The following year, she signed with AEW.
While appearing on The Breakfast Club, Mone discussed her decision to leave.
“I left for many different reasons. A lot of personal stuff happened with myself and the Chairman [McMahon] at the time. I didn’t like how he talked to me and how I was talked down to. I was like, you know what, ‘It’s time to legit listen to your soul and your heart. There was a light that came to me one day, and I just left WWE.”
When following up on McMahon allegedly talking down to her, Mone said, “Yeah, a little crazy. That day he talked to me a little crazy. It was enough for my source of light to come into my body and go, ‘If you stay, that’s not okay, and be like you know what? ‘If you stay, that’s not okay. This is for the rest of your life. What are you going to teach your kids? What are you going to teach just people if you’re feeling like this from words after being here for 10 years? You got to stand up for yourself.’ And that’s what I did. Just a light—the same light that came to me when I was 10 years old, being like, ‘This is your sole purpose. this is what you’re going to do. Another light came to me’ and being like, ‘You got to walk away and do something better for yourself.’”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit The Breakfast Club with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.