BY JITU JANGIR
Following the expiration of her contract with NJPW/Stardom in December 2023, she inked a deal with AEW and made her first appearance at Dynamite: Big Business in March 2024. ##
Following the event, Renee Paquette gets Close Up with AEW's Newest Signee - The CEO Mercedes Moné the latest edition of 3/14/24 AEW Close Up. ##
Below check out the full transcription of the interview; ##
Renee Paquette: The entire wrestling world was waiting for big business, waiting to see what was going to happen. Mercedes Monae making her debut here in AEW, you are officially all Elite. It has happened. How do you feel? ##
Mercedes Moné: "Goosebumps. I've been waiting for this moment for a very long time, and for it to be here in my hometown of Boston, what an unbelievable feeling that I still haven't even really got to process. I can't wait to watch back all the videos because that first initial reaction was... it was unb-- like it felt like there was millions of people out there, and I know they were like, "Wait, what is this music?" And then when they said CEO, the fans erupted. When it splashed Mercedes Monae, oh my God, that was legit one of the coolest reactions in all of my time in wrestling. And I've gotten to do some amazing, incredible things, and I'm just so ready for so much more here in AEW." ##
Renee Paquette:"We're going to get into all of those things. But sticking with some of the big business, what was going through your mind the moment before walking through the curtain or just even like the day? It can be a long day leading up to waiting to that moment. The music hits, the crowd erupts, what were those few moments like before?" ##
Mercedes Moné: "Many different emotions, and I was telling my advocate, like, my anxiety is through the roof, and I've been doing this for 14 years. And every time I'm done after these big anxiety moments, I'm like, "Why did I do that to myself?" And it's the same thing tonight because the crowd just lets me know exactly how I want to feel, what I wanted to feel. It was everything that I ever dreamt of and more. And just the feeling right before I went out, it just felt um, like home. I felt complete. I felt like in gorilla, this feels so right." ##
Renee Paquette: "I've known you for gosh, almost 12 years. I feel like seeing that version of you in the ring again, I've seen you do some amazing things in professional wrestling, but to see you in that moment as Mercedes Monae in Boston, it just seems like you are locked into a different version of confidence. How did you get there?" ##
Mercedes Moné: "It took a while. It took a while. These past um, two years have been a whirlwind of a journey that I couldn't even begin to start and explain, but I can a little bit because the fans were here, yeah, and fans from all over the world and not just from Boston. Came from just speculation. It was never announced that Mercedes Monae was officially here in AEW, but we gave a little sign, the little teasers, and just on that pure speculation to have that crowd, to hear that eruption and just to know I am on a global mission. I am on an AEW revolution, you know? I got to lead a women's evolution before, and I'm here to do so much more, and the women here are the best. I've been watching for years, and to getting to watch every single week and to have dreams again, it's the most insane and the best feeling because I've been missing those dreams. I've been missing those goals. I've been missing things to go chase after and go fight for, and this is the place where I can do all that. There's so many women I've never been in the ring with here, maybe only two that I've been in the ring with, um, but to explore that and to make sure that this is global, it's not just here in AEW, it's Global. And we can do this in Japan, we can do this in Mexico, we can do this in the UK, we can do this all over the world, and we're going to be doing that here in AEW." ##
Renee Paquette: "In those two years of you making the jump to be here in AEW, I mean, we got to see you in so many different places. It seemed like you were out there doing your personal mission to do your soul searching to see what that next step was going to be for you. What did some of that look like for you in those two years?" ##
Mercedes Moné: "I mean, finding that reason to have those dreams again. Yeah, I mean, first I just started finding a team, finding people that I can go to for help because I felt so lost, so broken, so hurt, and so confused where I fit in this world, and especially in the world of wrestling that gave me so much hope, gave me so much dreams, gave me so much opportunity. I felt very lost and confused and unsure, and it hurt me because of how much work I put into being in wrestling and all my dreams into it. It just felt like it got taken away from me and just kind of came crumbling down. So, it took a little bit of healing, a lot of healing, but a team to really help build me back up and to have my back and to let me know that I am more than a boss, I am a CEO because I took control of my own life. I walked out with my head held up high, and I found so many new passions that I never got to discover before. Wrestling has always been my one and only and my everything, and to be a 30-year-old, back then, now I'm 32, to grow and to understand that there is so much more than this, wrestling is so much more, it's so beautiful, it's more than just in the ring. To be able to discover new love, new foundation, just new everything, I felt so freeing." ##
Renee Paquette: "Doesn't it blow your mind to think of the time when we first met, what we had available in professional wrestling, the things that you were able to help lead the charge on to where professional wrestling is at now? I mean, you spoke a little bit about what our roster looks like, what our women's division looks like. Are you surprised that this is where we're at in 2024 with professional wrestling? 2024." ##
Mercedes Moné: "Am I surprised? Absolutely not. I've not heard that click in so long, not because we strive for this, women strive for this. We have been killing it for so long, and we can't be denied. You heard the crowd at Big Business for me, a woman. Hello, we cannot be denied. We're only taking off. We're only getting more global, and it's just going to keep on getting bigger and better." ##
Renee Paquette: "You mentioned the healing that you have done in the last 2 years. Let's talk about the ankle, to be going through that emotional journey, that finding yourself spiritual journey, then you get hit with a physical injury with your ankle. What did that do?" ##
Mercedes Moné: Well, people think it's my ankle. Oh, little do they know, it's more than just an ankle, guys. You know, I can hurt a foot. I can hurt more than everything. And if you listen to my new hit single, CEO, I actually mention what I broke. So, okay, you can be prepared for that, but it was honestly such a shocking and a shock feeling when that happened. I was so on a mission already when that happened. I was so confused. I was like, why? What? Like, I don't understand what I did. Why is this happening? But I knew that I had to go through it and go straight through it. And I know that I needed to slow down and heal because I wasn't done healing, you know? The universe is saying, heal, heal, heal, heal, heal if you're SC to do that. Sometimes it's so hard, and it's so hard. ##
I was talking to my friend one time, and she's like, you know, you can't heal overnight. If you were in a company for 10 years, it might take you 10 years to heal. I go, "Oh, no, I don't know. I can give it maybe 10 days, but I'm ready to move on." Yeah, little did we know it took 10 months. Thank you. Um, but when that happened, it was in such shock. I remember falling and just being like, oh, that hurt. And what just happened? And did it look like she took something or did it look like I was just laying there, like, huh, well, I got to finish the match, and I rolled in, tried to stood up, was like, "Dang, there's something wrong." Tried to keep on finishing the match, and I went up for my finisher, and I was like, "Dang, this is broken. Damn, this sucks." And uh, everything just changed in that instant, you know? I was like, I hope this is just a sprained ankle. ##
I hope this is just a rolled ankle. But I instantly knew like something was majorly up and it was broken. Went straight to the hospital, stayed at the hospital for 6 hours. They gave me x-rays, but it was so swollen that they're like, "Yeah, you're, it's fine. You can, you can go home." Couldn't even walk out. All of my friends were out in the parking lot waiting for me. They wheeled me to an Uber. My friend had to carry me from the Uber to the hotel, push me in a... in a... a chair just so I can go to the bathroom, buy their my own crutches to go to the airport and get so many different opinions because I'm just like, "This doesn't feel right." MH, you know your own body. I finally got the call that it was broken and that I would need surgery and uh, I really thought like this was over and it sucked cuz I didn't know how long I was going to be out and how long I was going to be gone from something that has been my whole life. I don't know anything but wrestling because it's been my whole life that I've given everything for it. ##
So, when I finally had my surgery and it came out of it and the surgeon was like, "I just have to tell you and I hate to say this but this is career-ending." Oh my God. Instantly, I was like, "No, it's not. It's not going to be. It's not." I was ready to recover the second I got hurt. My mind was already in a place of healing that I knew that nothing can stop me from coming back to wrestling. I didn't know when. I didn't know where. I didn't know even how. I just knew in my heart that I was going to be back. And then 10 months later, I am here in Boston with all of my friends and family and people from all over the globe, all over the world came here tonight, came to Big Business to celebrate this MH, this that I got to create all this magic that I got to... meet that came to celebrate with me. And it was the most special feeling in the whole world. And knock on wood, I never want to get hurt again. But to go through that experience, I am just so beyond thankful. It taught me so much. It taught me how to be strong. It taught me that I can even believe in my heart and my mind even that much more. It taught me everything that I needed to know. I went from a boss and I went to a CEO. I still put the boss in Boston, of course, obviously. But to level up and to just really grow and to figure out that mission, that goal, and that hunger that I've been missing for so long, at Big Business, it just reminded me why I fight so hard for wrestling and for women's wrestling. It's... it's the best feeling in the whole world." ##
Renee Paquette: It's so amazing to see that all happen and to see all of the work that you've done and to take the time and to bet on yourself and bust your ass and be here and get that moment, get that reaction, uh, and now to start making moves in this new direction. ["Not any type of move, some money moves, big money moves," said Mone.]. So, the CEO of AEW, what's your first business move? " ##
Mercedes Moné: "1I mean, there's so much in order. I've got to meet so many people, big business. So, I don't know. I'm about to go to Toronto, just, you know, keep on scouting out this women's division. Um, you know me and Willow have some unfinished business. She was my last opponent before I got hurt, and I haven't really even got to see that footage, so I don't even know if it was her that pushed me, if I slipped, if somebody paid off the ref. I mean, it was just... was such a crazy, hectic day, and it was for the New Japan Strong Women's Championship. I don't know Willow. I don't know if she's dirty. I don't know how bad she wants things, and I've been around a business where people will scratch and claw and stab you in your back. But so far, we got to do a little chatting backstage, and she seems nice. She's cute. Um, but yeah, I'd like to pick up some more big business with her again." ##
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