After months of anticipation, Mercedes Mone officially made her in-ring debut as a member of AEW and turned in one of the top matches on the card against the then-TBS Champion Willow Nightingale, taking her to task for 18 minutes on the way to a massive MGM Grand victory in the third-to-last match at Double or Nothing.

Heading to the media scrum after her big win to discuss what it means to be the new face of TBS, Mone celebrated his arrival in AEW, as she is so excited to prove to fans that WWE isn't the only place where wrestlers can get over.

“Wow. How did it finally feel after a year of being away from something that I loved since I was a little girl? Wrestling has not only changed my life, but saved my life. And coming here to AEW has saved my life, Tony. It's given me new hopes, new dreams, new chances, new opportunities, and tonight, being here in AEW, celebrating five years of AEW, being here with Willow, who is legit one of the greatest women I have ever stepped into the ring with, like wow, and I've been doing this for 14 years, and she is legit one of the best, amazing,” Mercedes Mone declared.

“Renee, to answer your question,  it feels so incredible. I've been waiting for this moment, really ever since I got signed to AEW. But really, for the past two years, not knowing where I was going to be. What was going to happen after leaving WWE, what was going to be next for me. Because a lot of times in wrestling, people think WWE is the only place. And I think tonight, we showed the wrestling world that it's not the only place. AEW is where the best wrestle, and we had the greatest show tonight celebrating five years of this incredible company where we cannot be denied, and we are just going to show wrestling fans around the world that this is the place to celebrate wrestling because this is the best place to be.”

Alright, on paper, it would have been pretty crazy for Mone to come out of her first big win in AEW and declare that she's disappointed to be in the promotion since it isn't on the same level as WWE, but her comments are still notable because she mentioned WWE by name, which doesn't usually happen in AEW. With a championship belt around her waist and the door wide open for regular matches as a member of the promotion, it'll be interesting to see if Mone can make good on her word and become the sort of star she was as Sasha Banks in WWE.

Mercedes Mone didn't mind waiting for a perfect AEW debut.

Elsewhere in her post-Double or Nothing media scrum, Mercedes Mone discussed why it took so long to make her in-ring debut in AEW, as she debuted at Big Business roughly two months before wrestling Willow Nightingale in Las Vegas. For Mone, the prospects of waiting a little longer really didn't matter, as, after a year out of the ring, she was fine waiting a little longer for a perfect debut.

“Me and Tony have been talking for a very long time. People don't even actually know when I got signed to AEW. The beginning of the year, we talked, signed a deal, made it happen. We were really talking about when was the perfect place and time for me to debut in the ring? We knew March 13th was going to be amazing, and the Boston Garden,” Mercedes Mone explained via Fightful. “When Tony called me and said, ‘I have the perfect place for you to debut. Boston, baby.' ‘Tony, Tony, you are speaking my language. You are speaking the Mone.' Then he said, ‘We are celebrating AEW's five-year anniversary here in Las Vegas for Double or Nothing. Can you wait?' I said, ‘B**ch, I've been waiting for a whole year. Of course, I can wait. I'm patient.' This is the perfect place. The grandest place that I can make my in-ring debut. As you can see, Mone changes everything.”

Would it have made more sense if TK booked Big Business in late April or early May to give Mone a smaller runway before her first match? Probably so, as she did have to sit through AEW Dynasty without wrestling in a move that confused multiple fans. Still, in the end, her debut was a massive win and in the end, that's all that really matters.