Mercedes Moné recently opened up about her journey in professional wrestling and the key moments she believes changed the landscape for women in the industry.
Speaking on the Marking Out podcast with MVP and Dwayne Swayze, Moné recalled her lifelong passion for wrestling and the influence it has had on her life.
She explained how her mother was initially concerned after seeing the type of matches women were featured in during the late 1990s and early 2000s. “Since I was 10 years old, I knew wrestling was my calling, my self purpose, my everything. I always told my mom I wanted to be a pro wrestler, and then I would watch it with her, and she’d be like, ‘That’s what you want to do?’ She’s wrong watching the bra and panties matches with me in the mud fight. She goes, ‘That’s what you want to do?’ And I’m like, ‘No, Mom, not that. Watch the next match. Watch Eddie Guerrero. I want to do that, but in the female form.’”
Moné emphasized that she always dreamed of redefining women’s wrestling and moving beyond the “diva” label.
She credited Triple H, Dusty Rhodes, and William Regal for creating opportunities in WWE NXT, particularly during a period when women began to be featured in longer, main-event caliber matches. “I feel like once Triple H came down to NXT and switched it, and Dusty Rhodes had so much passion for his students, and William Regal, those were the three that said, ‘Let’s give the women an opportunity to shine.’ The first women’s match I saw in NXT was Paige vs. Emma, and they had 20 minutes. I had never seen that before. I wanted that.”
Moné pointed to her Four-Way match with Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Bayley, as well as her NXT Women’s Championship reign, as pivotal moments in her career.
She described her 2015 NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn match against Bayley as the turning point for women’s wrestling. “After that match, women’s wrestling kind of just elevated and changed the landscape.”
Check out the complete interview below:
