Mercedes Mone has done it again. At Wednesday’s AEW Grand Slam in Mexico City, she defeated Zeuxis to clinch the CMLL World Women’s Championship. It represents the sixth title she has won ever since departing WWE in controversial circumstances in 2022.
Besides the CMLL title, Mone also currently holds the TBS Championship, the Undisputed British Women’s Championship, and the EWA (an Austrian indie promotion) Women’s Championship. Her collection could grow next month, however, as “The CEO” is set to challenge Toni Storm for the AEW Women’s Championship at next month’s All In.
Combined with Mone being undefeated on AEW programming, such dominant booking has led to notions that owner Tony Khan has spoiled Mone, i.e., given her too much too fast. She has maintained that she is at her happiest, finally able to have the run that some of her fans believed she never got in WWE. To truly understand her side, however, one must go back to her time there…
In 2015, WWE launched the “Divas Revolution”. Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch, three-fourths of what would become the “Four Horsewomen”, were called up from NXT to bolster the then-Divas division’s depth. Over the months, it became clear which one most fans were getting behind.
It was Banks. Despite being a heel, she had captivated audiences with not only her amazing in-ring skills but also her masterful character projection. “The Boss” was a confident jerk, and her instant classic with Bayley at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn only solidified her popularity.
On the main roster, however, it was different. Apparently, Vincent McMahon had already settled on who his female star of the future would be, and it was not Banks. Rather, it was Flair – the 5’10” freakishly athletic blonde daughter of Ric Flair, and this thinking first manifested at WrestleMania 32.
Banks had easily the biggest presentation among her, Flair, and Lynch. She wore pants instead of her usual shorts as a tribute to her idol Eddie Guerrero. She was serenaded to the ring by her cousin, rapper Snoop Dogg. Yet she did not win the match, being held down by Ric while Lynch tapped out to Flair.
Flair and Banks would take their turns holding the (Raw) Women’s Championship over the rest of 2016, as WWE sought to elevate the former. The ending of this feud is still a sore point for the latter’s fans — with seconds left in regulation during an Iron Woman match, Banks tapped out. She would do it again in overtime, then deflatedly concede that Flair was superior to her the next night before being attacked by Nia Jax.
Even after Flair left for SmackDown in 2017, Banks’ tribulations did not end. At SummerSlam that August, she defeated Alexa Bliss to win the title for the fourth time. The following night, Bliss decried her as a “choker” who could not win a title defense — a notion that “The Goddess” would validate only a week later. Once again, “The Boss” had been humiliated.
Banks would not hold that title again until 2020, as part of the “Golden Role Models” angle with a now-heel Bayley. Like her past four reigns, it did not last long, as she lost in her first defense against Asuka. Something good would eventually come out of it, though.
A face turn via violent betrayal by Bayley and Hell in a Cell win later, Banks was the SmackDown Women’s Champion. It became her first (and ultimately only) sustained singles run on the main roster — she had multiple title defenses before putting over Bianca Belair at WrestleMania 37. There was one element missing throughout this run, however: actual fans who cheered for her.
Eventually, that desire for a more substantial run, with real people in attendance, would go unfulfilled in WWE. In May 2022, during a tag team title reign with Naomi, Banks walked out on the company. A major reason for her decision, according to Dave Meltzer, was that she was upset at being replaced by Ronda Rousey against Flair for WrestleMania 38.
Given the circumstances, one can understand Banks’ frustration. It was supposed to be her moment of redemption. She was going to win the Royal Rumble, then finally defeat Flair on the big stage — at the same place where she had failed six years ago. It was going to be her first-ever WrestleMania win after six years of defeat. Instead, she was demoted to holding one of the least significant titles in company history to accommodate a “celebrity”.
If Banks was going to have that career-defining run, she would have to do it elsewhere…
Kenny Omega’s 2021 run as world champion of AEW, Impact (now called TNA), and AAA is widely referred to as “The Belt Collector” era. Mone has taken inspiration from that gimmick, but also elevated it to new heights.
It began in January 2023. Kairi Sane had just retained the IWGP Women’s Championship against Tam Nakano at Wrestle Kingdom 17. Suddenly, some upbeat music played, and out emerged Mone, free from her association with WWE. The newly rechristened “CEO” attacked the champion; her message was clear: she wanted the next shot.
Mone would win the title the following month, but like her predecessor, she would defend it just once before losing to Mayu Iwatani. Still, NJPW continued catering to her: it created a Strong Women’s Championship tailor-made for her until she suffered an injury during the match in which she was supposed to win it.
Since returning in 2024, Mone has had nothing but success. She won the TBS title at Double or Nothing, then the Strong title at Forbidden Door. She then added the British title earlier this year at Wrestle Dynasty, and while she lost the Strong title last month, she has since added the Austrian and Mexican belts. To top it all off, she also won the Women’s Owen Hart tournament at Double or Nothing for the right to challenge Storm.
Speaking of Storm, she has become the most entertaining Women’s Champion AEW has ever had, with her Marilyn Monroe-esque “Timeless” gimmick hailed as one of its best ever. To think this is the same woman who, over three years ago, exchanged pies on the face with Flair and was going to be disrobed on TV.
None of that, however, intimidates Mone. At All In, she has a chance to attain wrestling “godhood”. Seven titles within two and a half months, five of them concurrently — it would signify a period of dominance unlike anything she has experienced.
Of course, some fans will not be happy with what they perceive as overindulgent booking. Mone could not care less about them, however. She bet on herself, and she is happily reaping the rewards of her gamble.
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