Mercedes Mone is officially All Elite after her debut at Big Business on March 13, but she’s been All Elite for quite some time.
Sources confirmed to Fightful and Mat Men’s Andrew Zarian that Mone has been on the AEW payroll for well over two months, with some sources saying that they believe the deal was effectively agreed upon back in December when Mercedes landed several trademarks in relation to her name. Those we have spoken to believe the contract is a multi-year deal. We're working to confirm that.
In addition, we’re told that New Japan Pro Wrestling expects to be factored into this deal, and they were under the impression as of January that they would be able to continue to work with Mercedes in a big way. Sources in the company said they hoped they could pick up where they left off with her last year, but that AEW would be her priority.
Mercedes suffered a severe injury last May that has had her sidelined for ten months. We’re told that it required two surgeries and even while she was negotiating other deals, it was made clear that she wasn’t ready for an in-ring return.
To highlight the timeline of events, Mercedes was brought in during AEW All In to appear in the crowd, and AEW believed that while no deal was signed, there was an understanding the two sides would work together. At the time, most didn’t know exactly how severe Mercedes’ injury was, which we’re told was just as bad as she indicated during a recent interview. We were told at various points Tony Khan didn’t want to simply have Mercedes come out in a walking boot or on crutches, and set up fans for something they wouldn’t be able to see for a while as well.
When Fightful followed up in early December, we were told that Mercedes and AEW no longer had working plans and the two sides were apart on terms. She’d re-entered discussions with WWE by that point, who also could not come to terms with her.
Fightful discovered internal language within WWE that a “former WWE Champion” would be appearing on the WWE Day 1 Raw (later revealed to be The Rock). When Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp noted after the report of the internal language that it could have been anyone from Bob Backlund to Sasha Banks, WWE sources quickly shut the latter down. They confirmed in an official capacity that WWE and Mercedes had conversations, but as of late December, those were no longer ongoing, and the two sides couldn’t come to terms. WWE sources also called those conversations friendly, and wished her luck, and said they expected her to sign or appear elsewhere imminently.
As it turns out, even though she wouldn’t appear for months, she did sign elsewhere imminently, if she hadn’t already.
At that point, Fightful learned that AEW and Mercedes had re-entered talks and that they’d expected to land her. Within the first week of January, there were already discussions about her debut, with some in the company even being told that both January 3 and 10 were possibilities. However, Mercedes was not anywhere near physically cleared by that point.
Those dates were passed on, and by January 4, Fightful learned that the company was planning to announce a show in Boston called “Big Business” where Mercedes would debut without technically ever being announced, with Mat Men Radio’s Andrew Zarian learning the date.. We were able to confirm as much in the following weeks.
In early January, reports emerged that NJPW had long planned or wanted to do a Mercedes Mone vs. Giulia match at NJPW Battle In The Valley. Multiple frustrated sources within NJPW shot that notion down, and clarified to Fightful that at no point since Mercedes’ severe injury had it been indicated to them that she would be ready for Battle in the Valley, and it wasn’t in the plans. They also noted that if she would have been good to go for Battle in the Valley, they likely would have booked her for Wrestle Kingdom as well, and didn’t want fans to think they were “holding anything back” from either one of those shows.
Throughout January, WWE sources were steadfast that they expected her to appear in AEW. They even made comments to Fightful during Royal Rumble week that not only did they hear she couldn’t have been cleared for a highly speculated Royal Rumble appearance, but that they weren’t interested in contract tampering with her anyway.
By the time the WWE Royal Rumble rolled around and she didn’t show up there, Mercedes' impending AEW debut was a foregone conclusion to AEW wrestlers and staff, even beyond the reporting. Many gained word that a Boston TD Garden show was set for March, and put two and two together.
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