Mercedes Moné Given The Rock Deal By AEW
The deal that Mercedes Mone signed with AEW gave her a lot of power with the hope that she could help the company grow.
Following her official AEW debut at AEW Big Business after months of speculation that it was going to happen, Mercedes Mone is officially All Elite. While Mone has openly spoken about why she went to AEW instead of WWE, more details have emerged.
It is being reported by PWInsider’s Mike Johnson that both WWE (where Mone performed for over a decade as Sasha Banks) and AEW were both willing to commit to deals paying Mercedes “eight figures in total over the course of the deals” meaning tens of millions of dollars. Johnson added that Mone’s deal with AEW likely makes her the highest-paid women’s wrestler in the history of pro wrestling.
As Johnson continued, he wrote about how Mercedes Mone showed her business savvy by making the AEW deal because now she owns the copyrights for many things related to her name.
“We are also told that Mone recognized that her decision on where to sign would also be about leaving her own potential legacy in professional wrestling as well as ownership of that legacy. Mone’s new theme song is owned by Mone.”
“She now owns all her trademarks and copyrights for everything Mone-related, something that would never happen in WWE unless you are Dwayne Johnson. The AEW move allowed for Mone to continue to build her own personal empire and to exploit everything she does with AEW through her other endeavors. It was about building a platform for herself, not just going back to wrestling matches.”
The reference to WWE’s Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock is because he recently signed a massive deal with TKO-WWE that puts him on the TKO Board of Directors leading to a $30 million payday and he also finally owns the rights to his wrestling name The Rock.
AEW Hopes That Mercedes Mone’s Outside Success Can Help The Company Grow
While Mercedes Mone is expected to continue her outside of wrestling ventures that involve acting, music, and fashion, it is believed that AEW will fully support that while she works for the company.
In the report by Johnson, he noted that some people within AEW think Mone could fill a role in the company similar to The Rock and John Cena by being a mainstream star. It is believed that Mercedes views it as something where she wants to expand the opportunities for everybody in the company, especially the women’s roster. By doing so, Mone hopes to elevate the company and perhaps help create some mainstream talents.
It was also added that the presence of Mercedes Mone in AEW led to the company signing former WWE writer Jen Pepperman also. Pepperman was hired by AEW less than one month before Mone appeared on television, but it was when Mone had already agreed to her AEW deal.
“By signing with AEW, we are told that Mone’s hope is that she can assist the promotion in growing stronger and evolving overall – hence the signing of Jen Pepperman to work for AEW as their new Vice President of Content Development, who worked with her closely in WWE.”
“The hope is that Pepperman will help all of AEW and that the intent is not for her to work exclusively on Mone’s content. It was about bringing someone to AEW who could help them continue to shape and improve their process and product.”
Mercedes Mone’s next AEW appearance will be on the March 20th edition of AEW Dynamite in Toronto.