There was a controversy this past week regarding a Mercedes Mone interview on the Kick Rocks podcast. This was done before her AEW debut and never acknowledged going to AEW since the idea was for it to be a secret. Regarding WWE, she said, “I know I’m gonna be back there one day. Like I said, I have a lot of unfinished business in a lot of places.”
Boy did this one rub a lot of people the wrong way. Time will tell, and quite frankly she should always have it in her mind the possibility of going to WWE, but saying so days before she’s about to start in AEW wouldn’t be the right time politically to say that. There is a reality that some people consider AEW as the place they want to be and some see it as a place to make money until getting the call to come back. The latter group has in general been more of a detriment to the company. In her case, she negotiated with both sides, WWE didn’t give her the money she wanted and AEW did.
Could you imagine Jade Cargill or Cody Rhodes, right before her or his WWE debut saying that they know they’ll one day go back to AEW, and if they did, how do you think WWE would react? In time, this will play out as it does, but the people who were skeptical are now more skeptical. In the end, if she’s a long-term valuable asset to the company nobody will remember this statement. And if not, everyone will remember this statement.