There has been a lot of talk regarding Mercedes Mone having “creative control” since her AEW run started.
Almost like clockwork, whether it’s someone established, someone who just won their first match on TV, or an international star rarely seen on AEW TV, whenever Mercedes Mone gets a win, there are unfounded claims of her exercising creative control to make sure she wins those matches.
That isn’t the case.
Fightful Select reached out to sources in the know within AEW and NJPW who both denied that type of thing ever happened, and said they’ve never heard of her having creative control. Beyond that, a source familiar with both said “she hasn’t turned down losing, because losing hasn’t even been broached. Both companies had plans to push her heavily.”
They chalked up Mercedes' claims of creative control to be largely in character.
Another source pointed to the fact that Mercedes actually changed the finish to her Willow Nightingale NJPW match on the fly to lose, because she knew she’d sustained a serious injury.
Creative input is not the same as creative control. Creative control is contractual in nature. For example, Hulk Hogan adjusting the Starrcade 1997 finish or causing Shawn Michaels to turn heel in 2005. There is also "reasonable creative control," which is what Bret Hart tried to express ahead of Survivor Series 1997.
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