In the lead-up to Mercedes Mone‘s not-so-surprise debut at AEW Big Business in “Bo$$ton,” the biggest story of the afternoon wasn't the former Sasha Banks commenting on her potential return to WWE at some point in the future, but instead the presence of Bayley, Tamina, and Trinity Fatu, a trio of Superstars who made their way to Massachusetts to celebrate their long-time friend's debut for Tony Khan's company.

Now granted, if you just watched the show, you would have never known that there were multiple WWE Superstars hanging out in a suite at the show, as they were never shown on camera and only really made their presence known via a series of social media videos and posts, but still, a month before Josh Barnett's Bloodsport and a week before Matt Hardy watched RAW in North Carolina, the forbidden door was broken once more, showing that fans and promoters care far more about the artificial barriers than the wrestlers do.

Discussing her decision to show up for her friend in an interview with Stephanie Chase of Digital Spy, Bayley noted that, after Mone has done so much for her during her career, she had to represent at her friend's big moment.

“[Mercedes] is the best, I wouldn't be here without her. She's done so much for me. Even after she was done with WWE, she's been there for me in my big moments. So I know I need to be there for her continuously throughout the years. It was incredible, I'm just happy that she was on a Wednesday where I'm like, ‘Alright, I can actually make a Wednesday, that's one of our few days off.' It was really special to see her celebrate with her family and her friends and people she started wrestling with and see her welcomed by a new family. It's bittersweet, but I'm very, very proud of her and just so grateful we got to be there.”

Wow, is Bayley to AEW confirmed? I mean, probably not, but either way, it's clear Bayley is Team Mone moving forward, and as a result, don't be too surprised if there are a bunch of “Sasha Banks is back” posts at WrestleMania 40 when the “CEO” shows up to see Bayley wrestle IYO SKY in the Damage CTRL Civil War.

Eric Bischoff weighs in on Mercedes Mone's debut TV numbers.

Speaking of Mercedes Mone's AEW debut, Eric Bischoff commented on “CEO's” debut in “Bo$$ton,” which drew an average of roughly 800,000 viewers, according to Neilson.

While some have pointed out that Mone wasn't technically advertised for the show, the WCW personality let it be known that he didn't buy that reasoning, as he believes there wasn't an AEW fan who didn't know Mone was going to be Tony Khan's surprise guest.

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)
Eric Bischoff with a text bubble reading "No, seriously!" next to Tony Khan and Jinder Mahal with the AEW logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Tony Khan with a text bubble reading "That's an interesting question" next to Eric Bischoff with the AEW logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Triple H next to The Rock with the WWE logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

“Same thing here with Mercedes. I mean, 800,000 viewers on the show where you're bringing in arguably one of the more recognizable female stars in the wrestling industry? Who spent — I don't know how, many years? A decade at a high-profile position within the largest wrestling company in the world. And you bring her into AEW, and you get 800,000 viewers? And I know — you know, Dave Meltzer immediately went, ‘Well, they didn't advertise her, that's why.' Bulls**t, who are you kidding? If there was anybody who was a wrestling fan, or a fan of AEW who didn't know that Mercedes was going to make her debut in Boston? Then I don't know what to tell you. If people like Dave want to believe that, there's nothing that I'm going to say that's going to change anything for them because they're stuck in a rut, in a small way of thinking, and nothing is ever going to change for them,” Eric Bischoff noted on Strictly Business.

“But the numbers don't lie. 800,000 viewers for Mercedes Mone? I don't know. And I know everybody's all, ‘Well, wait till next week, now that everybody knows!' I have news for you, folks. If that number moves three to 5% either way, plus or minus, I'll be surprised. I've said I said it six months ago, when the rumors started floating around about Mercedes going to AEW. And the question was, ‘Oh, do you think you'll have any impact?' And my answer was, ‘No, it won't'. Just like no one else that's come from WWE has made an impact on the ratings. It's not the talent. The creative — there is no creative. There's no functional creativity in AEW. I mean, basic television formatting as we just finished discussing, it doesn't exist. It's unbelievable. It's like a bunch of wrestling fans who've never produced five minutes of television got together and said, ‘Hey, let's put on a wrestling show.' And they're entertaining themselves, I guess, but not the audience. With the exception of a nucleus of internet wrestling fans that just love AEW. I don't know, man. It's really sad. I feel bad for talent. I don't know Sasha Banks, Mercedes. I don't know her; I don't know that I've ever even had a syllable of conversation with her. But I feel bad for her. Just like feel bad for Will Ospreay and Okada and, you know, Christian Cage.”

Unfortunately for AEW, Bischoff was correct in his assumption, as Mone's second episode of Dynamite – which also featured Christian Cage versus Adam Copeland III for the TNT Championship – only drew 800,000 viewers, according to Bryan Alvarez of F4W, which is an underwhelming number in line with the plus-minus 5 percent estimate. Maybe some fans are down to DVR, maybe some of Mone's fans are still in shock to see her leave WWE, but either way, the numbers haven't matched the hype, which is certainly a story worth monitoring moving forward.