Mercedes Mone’s (fka Sasha Banks) AEW debut played a major role in former champion’s return

A former AEW Women's World Champion has claimed that Mercedes Mone's (fka Sasha Banks) AEW debut played a key role behind her recent return to and current position in the promotion. The star in question is Britt Baker.

The DMD has been engaged in a rivalry with The CEO since her return to confront the latter after her double championship victory against Stephanie Vaquer at Forbidden Door 2024. Baker has challenged Mone to face her at the promotion's upcoming event All In 2024, although the former WWE Superstar has not yet accepted the challenge formally.

During an interview on Close Up w/ Renee Paquette, Britt Baker spoke about the excitement and pleasure she felt regarding the arrival of several globally-renowned talent, including Mercedes Mone, in AEW over recent years.

She remarked on feeling rewarded by a star of the calibre of the former IWGP Women's Champion choosing to sign with AEW, which, she felt, vindicated the work she and other talent from the Jacksonville-based promotion have put in to elevate its credibility. Baker also voiced her respect for Mone, and talked about a potential bout against the latter as a "dream match."

"First, and even now, it's exciting. She's arguably one of the biggest names in women's wrestling, and has been for a very long time. It's cool that she chose AEW first and foremost... That was super rewarding because she's always been one of my favorite wrestlers, and I've been very open about that. I've said that in many interviews. It was always a dream match of mine," said Baker.

Later in the interview, however, Baker critiqued Mone for constantly highlighting her credentials and accomplishments outside of All Elite Wrestling, and indicated that their goals for the future of the promotion may not align, which in turn has set them on a collision course.

The Pennsylvania-native went so far as to claim that The CEO signing with All Elite Wrestling has been beneficial to her career, as the latter's conduct has pushed fans to want Baker to challenge and oppose Mone.

"For me, the best thing that happened for my career was Mercedes Mone starting her AEW career. It made people want to see me back and put her in her place and show her what AEW is really about." [H/T - Fightful]

---

Mercedes Mone will defend her TBS Title on AEW Dynamite

Days ahead of the upcoming 250th episode of Dynamite, Mercedes Mone took to X/Twitter to reveal that she would defend her TBS Championship in an open challenge against any opponent from the All Elite Wrestling locker-room, except for Britt Baker. On last week's episode of Collision, the challenge was accepted by former AEW Women's World Champion Nyla Rose.

Despite displaying some apprehension initially, Mone clapped back against The Native Beast's promise to "wreck" Mercedes on Dynamite with a resolute response on X/Twitter.

Check out Mercedes Mone's tweet below:

It remains to be seen whether Britt Baker will intervene during Mercedes Mone's match on Dynamite.