AEW TBS Champion Mercedes Moné has opened up about the creation of her current persona, revealing why it was crucial to move on from her WWE identity as Sasha Banks and the exact moment her new name was born.
Speaking on the Marking Out podcast, Moné reflected on her early days in AEW and the challenge of establishing herself after her storied WWE run.
She said, “I feel like my first couple months with AEW, I was just still trying to figure out who was Mercedes Moné and make sure it wasn’t Sasha Banks. I wanted her to be very, very different so people didn’t want to compare… I wanted to level up from what Sasha Banks was and become the CEO, the boss of all bosses.”
Moné shared a deeply personal story about the name change, recalling a period of uncertainty after she left WWE. “I was just sitting in my closet actually, crying, being like, ‘Oh God, what do I do next? Who am I going to be?’”
She continued, “Just like a vision came to my mind of being like, ‘Okay, Mercedes, what is it going to take for you to get back to WWE?’ Well, they got to give me money… Money… I just kept hearing money and I just said Mercedes Money.”
She experimented with the spelling and ultimately landed on ‘Moné.’ “I wanted to manifest that money. So I wanted that last name as money.”
The successful rebrand has made Moné one of AEW’s top stars, with her TBS Championship reign solidifying her as a main-event player.
She will defend her title on August 24 at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door in a high-stakes four-way match.
