Tony Khan Dismisses Mercedes Mone Speculation

Tony Khan has lifted the lid on his working relationship with Mercedes Mone.

At AEW All In, Mercedes Mone will challenge “Timeless” Toni Storm for the Women’s World Championship.

Since signing with the company, Mone has yet to taste defeat and currently holds the TBS Championship in AEW as well as three other titles.

In the days after Mone won the CMLL Women’s World Championship, speculation that she has some kind of creative control in AEW kicked into another gear. Although this appeared unlikely, some fans were quick to point to comments made by Mone in character where she suggested that she was the one calling the shots.

Mercedes Mone Doesn’t Have Creative Control In AEW

During the All In media call, Tony Khan was asked about the rumours that Mone has creative control by Sean Ross Sapp, but he quickly dismissed the notion as “ridiculous.”

“That’s definitely not true at all. I would love to talk about that. Mercedes Mone is an incredible talent. I have wanted Mercedes Mone in AEW and she is a big star on the show. I really enjoy working with her backstage as a talent and she has done great things for the company doing media. She’s a great person. Mercedes is a great addition to AEW.

I also think it’s ridiculous, the idea that people would think because she’s a strong wrestler on the show that she must be the one dictating that. That is the complete opposite of what happens here…

I’m the only person with creative control over the show. At the end of the day, I’m responsible for what you see. I’m really proud this year because this has been one of the best years, six months into the year so far, we’ve ever done of television.

Philosophically, since the start of the year, in particular this year….I’ll go back. I’ve had the final say since day one of AEW. I’ve had the final creative control since the beginning of the company.”

Khan went on to explain that he meets with Mone and Storm, among others, several times a week before reiterating that he has the final say on creative.

“I have such a high opinion of Mercedes in particular, I also have a high opinion of her opponent Toni Storm. They are two of the best wrestlers on the planet. They are two people I meet with every single week. At least once a week, but usually multiple times a week and hear out ideas they might have and they hear out ideas I have.

For both of them, I’m very involved in the direction of their character personally. They have people they work with. In Mercedes’ case, someone she worked with for a long time which is Jen [Pepperman], and I work well with Jen and Mercedes.

In Toni’s case, I found somebody to help me work on it, which is RJ [City]. In the case of Toni or Mercedes or so many of the other great talents that I work with closely, I have the final say on what they do.”

In closing, Khan said that AEW’s success is down to a large group of people working together, something that wouldn’t be possible if certain wrestlers had creative control.

“The idea that anybody in AEW has a creative control card and that’s why anybody would get a push here because they dictate it: that’s not how it works. We have a great company and we’ve having a great year and it’s because of, first and foremost, the people I mentioned earlier.

The group of people that all work together to make this happen. It’s a team effort between the wrestlers, the staff, and the fans all working together 52 weeks a year and none of us can exist without the others.”

Elsewhere on the call, Tony Khan denied that Britt Baker is looking to leave AEW. It had recently been reported that Baker was looking to break her AEW contract and become a free agent. According to the report, this would spark interest from WWE.

Baker’s AEW deal runs until late 2026, but with time added due to injury, she could remain with the promotion into 2027.

H/t to Fightful