There was a lot of hype heading into AEW Big Business on Wednesday and after months of hype Mercedes Mone finally made her debut with All Elite Wrestling.
Fightful Select is reporting that they and Andrew Zarian of Mat Men confirmed that Mercedes Mone has been on AEW’s payroll for well over two months. Some sources believe that the deal between Mercedes and AEW was agreed to back in December when Mercedes landed several trademarks related to her name. It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but people who have spoken on the subject believe that Mercedes Mone signed a multi-year deal with All Elite Wrestling.
New Japan Pro Wrestling expects to be factored in and as of January the company was under the impression that they would be able to continue working with Mercedes.
When Mercedes Mone appeared at AEW All In last year she had not signed a deal with AEW, but the understanding was that the two sides would work together. Mercedes was injured at the time and Tony Khan didn’t her to come out in a walking boot only to set fans up for something they wouldn’t be seeing for a while.
In early December it was being said that Mercedes and AEW were far apart on terms and no longer had working plans. She then re-entered negotiations with WWE, but the two sides could also not come to terms. As of late December, Mercedes was no longer in talks with WWE. Sources in the company said that the talks were friendly, and they wished her luck as they expected her to sign elsewhere.
Within the first week of January there were already discussions about Mercedes making her debut with AEW. Some people in the company were told Mercedes could possibly debut in January, but she was not physically cleared at that point. Throughout January, WWE sources expected Mercedes to debut with AEW, and made comments about not being interested in contract tampering while talking about a possible Royal Rumble appearance for the former SmackDown Women’s Champion.
