Mercedes Mone Recalls Leaving WWE, What Happened That Made Her Want to Leave

– During a recent interview with HOT 97 ahead of AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, AEW TBS Champion Mercedes Mone discussed the day she walked out of WWE in May 2022. Below are some highlights (via Fightful):

Mercedes Mone on leaving WWE: “Only within the last two years when I was going through leaving WWE. I’m like, ‘Should I be done with wrestling? This is not fun for me. All this noise is not fun.’ I was like, ‘No, you love this. It’s not the noise. It’s the noise. It’s noise in the ring, noise in the performance, noise when you go out there in front of the crowd. It’s not this internet noise, the politics, you can work through that.’ There are going to be politics everywhere. It’s how you work through that. That’s how I grew from a legit boss to a CEO. I wanted to take control of my life and my career. Two years ago, I was really questioning myself if I should still do this. ‘You’re amazing. You still have so much more to give and do. You can’t quit on your dreams now.'”

On why she decided to leave WWE: “There are so many reasons. The biggest thing was listening to my heart and soul. Something didn’t feel right that day. How we were talked to didn’t settle in my heart. I just instantly knew, if I wasn’t going to take control of my life right here and now then I was never going to be happy there by having someone talk to me the way that they do or feeling like you don’t belong. Okay. I’ve been doing this for 14 years. To feel this low, my soul is like, ‘No, get up. Go.'”

On why her WWE exit was a hard decision: “It was the hardest decision. WWE was always my dream when I was 10 years old. To be with that company for ten years. To walk out was the hardest decision I made in my whole life. Now, it’s the greatest decision because of where I am today. The TBS Champion. The highest-paid woman in women’s wrestling history. I walked out of that door and walked into so many more doors that were open to me.”

Mone signed with AEW earlier this year. At last Sunday’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door event, Mercedes Mone beat Stephanie Vaquer to win the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship. At this Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite Beach Break show, AEW is holding a title celebration for the double champion. The show is being held at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. It will be broadcast live on TBS starting at 8:00 pm EST.