AEW's Mercedes Mone Discusses Biggest Break In Wrestling
Mercedes Mone is living large in her post-WWE life, having won championships in NJPW and AEW along with having a multi-million dollar per annum contract with Tony Khan and AEW.
Mone joined "The Breakfast Club" and looked back on her career, pointing out her biggest break in professional wrestling.
"I feel like my biggest break was in 2015, myself and this wrestler named Bayley, we had the greatest match of all time," Mone recalled. "'Sports Illustrated' said we had the greatest women's match of all-time, and that's really changed the landscape of women's wrestling after that match."
The match Mone referred to came during her time in "WWE NXT" as "The Boss" Sasha Banks, where she defended the NXT Women's Championship against Bayley at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn.
"I felt like a lot of people started taking (women's wrestling) seriously and really letting people know that women can do it just like the men and more," Mone said. "And because me and Bayley had that match, and the standing ovation and the crowd reaction, the next pay-per-view me and her got to main event that pay-per-view; special because we did so good."
That's when I really felt like I made it, Mone says
The main event rematch between Sasha Banks and Bayley came at NXT TakeOver: Respect, closing the show with a 30-minute Iron Man match won by Bayley. Mone was asked how long it was until she felt like she made it in wrestling, and she referred to her match as Sasha Banks against Bianca Belair on night 1 of WrestleMania 37 as the defining moment in her career.
"2015 was like that start of that buzz for women's wrestling, and then really 2020, 2021 where I main evented WrestleMania, being the first-ever black woman to main event a WrestleMania, that's when I really felt like I made it," Mone said. "I won an ESPY [Award] off that match; that's another match where fans come to me and be like, 'Because of that match my little girl wants to be a wrestler, or I can bring my kids to wrestling, or I enjoy all of this because of your matches, you make me feel a certain type of way.' So, I feel like maybe really in 2020, 2021 is when I really felt like I had made it, or like I cemented my legacy in wrestling."
At WrestleMania 37, Belair and Banks created history by becoming the first black women to main event "The Show of Shows," where the latter lost her "WWE SmackDown Women's title.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The Breakfast Club" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.