Potential reason for delay in Mercedes Moné's (Sasha Banks) AEW debut disclosed

AEW has seemingly been teasing the debut of Mercedes Moné ever since Saraya announced that she’d be having a mystery partner. However, on the latest Dynamite episode, Toni Storm was revealed to be her partner, and PWInsider has speculated on why that could be the case.

After walking out of WWE nearly a year ago, the wrestling world went wild with speculation on where she would go next. Many fans began to clamor for her to throw her lot in with AEW, resulting in immediate speculation that she'd be Saraya's mystery tag team partner.

According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, Tony Khan could be respecting New Japan Pro Wrestling, who has had her first match since leaving WWE booked for quite some time. Johnson speculates that in order to maintain their good relationship, Khan could be opting not to take away the hype and momentum NJPW has been building up around Moné.

While this is by no means the official announcement, it does propose an interesting reason behind Toni Storm being announced for the bout. Additionally, Britt Baker seemingly made a reference to Mercedes' WWE character Sasha Banks during Dynamite, sending more fans into a speculative frenzy.

Missed out on last week's AEW Rampage? Catch up with the results before the show tonight.

Dave Meltzer recently shared his doubts about Mercedes Moné making an AEW debut anytime soon

While fans of All Elite Wrestling are eagerly awaiting to hear Moné's theme song in the promotion, many WWE fans are still holding out hope that she’ll return and take up her Sasha Banks mantle again.

During a recent Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer gave his take on the star coming to Saraya's aid and shared why he doubts it'll happen.

“If she’s going to AEW, she’s going to have to sign for three years minimum. It would be really stupid to put her on TV if she’s going to go back [to WWE] in six months. I don’t know that she wants to make that commitment that she can’t go back.” (H/T WrestleTalk)

Meltzer notably received quite a lot of negative feedback online after this statement, with many claiming that Mercedes could still decide to do both. However, until next week's episode of Dynamite, fans will simply have to wait and see.