Mercedes Moné Taps Out Billie Starkz To Win 16th AEW TBS Title Defense On Dynamite

Omaha, Nebraska was hit by a blizzard over the past 36 hours, but even that wasn't enough to stop the "Moné Train" as "The CEO" Mercedes Moné defended her AEW TBS Championship for the 16th time on the March 19 episode of "AEW Dynamite" by defeating Billie Starkz in a hard-hitting contest.

Moné kicked off the match by using her experience to get the better of Starkz, but the 20-year old used her speed and agility to gain the momentum, hitting two big dives on the outside. Starkz threw Moné back in the ring and hit a senton off the top for a near fall, but Starkz got a little too excited and Moné hit a backstabber for two count of her own as the show went into commercial. During the break, Moné took full control of the match, hitting power slams and submission moves to make sure Starkz couldn't get any momentum going. Starkz did get a roll up, but was grounded quickly after by the champion.

Coming out of commercial, Starkz got going again with a Tilterwhirl Head Scissors, but any fight she had was quickly stopped with a huge lung blower from Moné. "The CEO" would then hit a Superplex from the top, but when she hung on and tried to hit a second Suplex, Starkz countered it into a Brainbuster on her knee for near fall, before getting another two count after hitting a bridging German Suplex. Moné would once again use Starkz's momentum against her by throwing her into the turnbuckle, but the challenger fought back with a series of strikes and kicks that led to a double down.

A series of roll ups and near falls followed, and after a big drop kick from Starkz, she hit an Alabama Slam into the turnbuckles. Starkz then got Moné into an Electric Chair position and drove her down neck first for the closest fall of the match, with Moné only getting out of it by her foot touching the ropes. Starkz saw her name up in lights and went for one more big move, another senton, only this time on the apron, but this cost her as Moné moved out of the way. The match ended with the champion rolling the challenger back in the ring for the Statement Maker, and with nowhere to go, Starkz was forced to submit. After the match, Moné kept hold of the submission to make sure Starkz knew that she might have put up a good fight, but she still has a lot to learn before she reaches the level of "The CEO."