Bayley Misses Mercedes Moné In WWE
Bayley has a big tag team match at WrestleMania 39, but she’s also thinking about her former tag team partner Sasha Banks aka Mercedes Moné.
This coming Saturday at WrestleMania 39 Night 1, Bayley is joining her Damage CTRL buddies Dakota Kai & IYO SKY for a big tag team match against the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Becky Lynch & Lita, who are joined by Trish Stratus in a six-woman tag team match.
For Bayley, she grew up idolizing women like Lita & Trish while Lynch is somebody she came up with in WWE over the last decade, so it’s a huge match for the former Women’s Raw, Smackdown & Tag Team Champion.
Speaking of those Women’s Tag Team Titles, Bayley won them with her best friend Sasha Banks at the 2019 Elimination Chamber event when WWE decided to bring the titles back. Bayley and Moné are very close friends that have been allies on TV as well as rivals at different times.
In May 2022, Moné and Naomi walked out on WWE while they were the Women’s Tag Team Champions and haven’t been back since. When Mercedes appeared at WrestleKingdom in January in Japan, Bayley was there to support her. When Banks beat KAIRI for the IWGP Women’s Title in California, Bayley was there too. They are extremely close friends, obviously.
During an appearance on the Ringer Wrestling Show, Bayley talked about her bond with her friend Mercedes/Sasha.
“I was just texting her today or yesterday and was like, ‘Man, I miss having you here.’ I miss her in this environment. I miss her for the biggest show of the year. She’s who I feed off of for inspiration or ideas or (someone) to vent to. I know I can trust her the most.”
“At the same time, what she’s doing, she’s carving a new path, she’s following her craziest dreams, she’s doing it literally on her own. You don’t have the WWE banner behind you. She’s doing everything she ever wanted, so successfully. To me, that’s inspiring. If she can do that on her own, I can be here without her and I’ll be okay. You start to feel sorry for yourself. ‘I need her, I have ideas and I don’t know who to talk to.'”
“I wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for her. Seeing her do all that and seeing her so happy, and she’s so happy for me. In a weird way, I wish she was in this match because her dream match has been Trish Stratus, and she may get it someday. I’m like, ‘Man, I want you here.’ She’s like, ‘This is the coolest thing ever. It’s one of the biggest matches in your career, if not the biggest.’ She is there for me and I’m there for her and it’s the best.”
As for the future, Bayley made it clear she always hopes that Mercedes will come back to WWE, but if she doesn’t come back then that’s okay too.
“I always hope she’ll come back. If she does or doesn’t, that’s fine. Whatever makes her happy. I think she’s definitely showing people there is more and there are other ways. If you get released, there is so much more you can do.”
“You can go other avenues and be successful and be all over wrestling, globally, and show people that don’t get hired off their tryouts, ‘you can go over there and still be successful and have amazing matches.’ If WWE isn’t your thing, you can go over there and do that. She’s showing them that it’s okay and you don’t have to be in one place to feel like you succeeded. She’s doing so much.”
While the IWGP Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone is not wrestling this weekend in Los Angeles, she is in town for Wrestlecon appearances. No word on if she’ll go to WrestleMania or see her WWE friends in town.