Mercedes Mone is just days away from making her expected AEW debut on the March 13th Dynamite: Big Business episode and has opened up on her WWE departure.
Mone, formerly Sasha Banks, and Trinity Fatu, aka Naomi, walked out of WWE in May 2022 due to creative differences. The night they walked out, they were advertised for a Six Pack Challenge for the evening’s main event, with the winner getting the next Raw Women’s Title shot despite being the Women’s Tag Team Champions at the time.
Months later, they were granted their release, with Mone going to NJPW and Fatu going to TNA Wrestling. In January, Naomi returned to the company, and while Mone had talks with WWE about returning, they were reportedly far apart on the money with the decision to join the rival promotion.
While appearing on the Kick Rocks Wrestling Podcast, Mone spoke about the walkout. An early edition of the podcast was released on Apple Podcast before being disabled. She said:
“That’s a big question. That’s a big, big question. I really believe in, not only the universe, but I believe in myself and a higher power of light that comes over me. 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. 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, 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. All I know is that I handled it like a CEO, like the boss that I am, with my head held high. I can’t say anything but amazing things to WWE. I’m so thankful to the career they gave me, the fans they gave me, the life they gave me. The dreams that they gave me. So many dreams. I got to chase and live them all. I get to do so much more. I have a lot of unfinished business in wrestling in a lot of places.”
The full episode will be released tonight, and she will talk about what’s next in her career, returning from injury, spending time in Japan, and more.
H/T to Fightful for the transcription
