Though it's officially been announced that Mercedes Moné isn't going to be Saraya's mystery partner on Dynamite, fans of AEW, NJPW, and beyond are still holding out hope that “The Boss” will be in Los Angeles on January 11th either in the ring with Hikaru Shida or someone else or as a guest sitting ringside for a bigger match down the road.
Now granted, some, like Dave Meltzer, have suggested that Moné won't be headed to AEW, as she may not be interested in the full-time commitment of working in the promotion, but because of her uncanny ability to build up hype and keep fans interested in her debut for NJPW – which was the worst-kept secret in pro wrestling – fans will continue to rally for one of the top-two companies in America to secure her services full-time. Matt Hardy specifically would love to see Moné land in AEW, as he believes she could be a serious difference-maker for the promotion, as he detailed on his Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast.
“Yeah, without a doubt,” Hardy said via Fightful. “I don’t even know if that would start… I could almost see her being a free agent for a while and just doing spots at AEW. I could definitely see that happening. It wouldn’t surprise me if she ends up showing up this coming up Dynamite as the mystery partner. It wouldn’t surprise me at all. I don’t know, I don’t have that information, but it wouldn’t surprise me.”
Asked by his cohost, Jon Alba, if Moné's arrival in AEW could be a sort of “Reverse Cody Rhodes situation” for the promotion.
“She’s a big star. There’s no if, ands, or buts about it,” Hardy said. “She really has put a ton of equity on her name, and on her character, on her identity as a pro wrestler. She’s been able to continue to hold that as she hasn’t even working with WWE. She’s kept herself in the headlines, which is great. Her coming to AEW would be a big deal. I feel like in some ways it would be very similar to, almost like a Cody situation in some ways. It’s like a huge jump, left WWE and came to AEW. It would have that feel, yeah.”
Would Moné actually be a reverse Cody situation for AEW? In terms of debut hype, maybe so, but in the long-term, probably not, as Rhodes is on the shortlist to win the WWE Championship and the AEW Women's Championship, even at its apex, never came close to headlining a Pay-Per-View. Still, it's hard to argue that Moné isn't a star, and bringing her into AEW, especially with Saraya on the roster too, could be the spark needed to truly put over the division.
AEW's Matt Hardy appreciates how Mercedes Moné has put herself over.
Elsewhere in the podcast, Hardy discussed Moné's decision to jump ship from WWE, comparing her situation to that of the Walking Dead.
“Good for her,” Hardy said. “She really bet on herself, and it’s hard for me not to appreciate that because I’m one of those guys too where I feel like Vince always knew that. I didn’t have to be in WWE. I’m not afraid to step out of Alexandria, a safe zone. I kind of compare Alexandria of the Walking Dead to WWE. If you stay inside and you have these walls, you’re gonna have a nice life and it’s safe and it’s easy, and you can make decent money, and it’s good. But you can go outside those walls, and you can survive on your own, but you have so hustle. So I have huge respect for anyone who is willing to leave WWE and go out and hustle on their own. I think Mercedes is killing it. She’s doing a great job at keeping herself relevant and keeping herself in conversations, being a huge talking point in the wrestling business. Showing up at New Japan and doing what she did was a big deal.”
For the longest time, fans wondered what Moné wanted out of the next chapter of her professional wrestling career. Would she be looking for the biggest payday possible? A new, long-term contract? Or just an opportunity to travel the world, test her mettle against the best talents possible, and maybe secure some championship gold along the way? With her debut in NJPW officially on the books, the first step in that journey has been taken – what comes next, be it a return to WWE, a multi-year deal with AEW, or a journeyman run through the indies Cody Rhodes-style, will define her future.
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