While AEW is hoping Mercedes Mone can take their product to all new heights, WWE Hall-of-Famer Eric Bischoff believes she will never reach her potential in the company for one specific reason.
AEW has made some big splashes in professional wrestling free agency in 2024 with a trio of major signings. The company added former IWGP champions Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay to two massive contracts. However, it could be argued their biggest move was the signing of former WWE women’s champion Mercedes Mone, AKA Sasha Banks.
Mone is a performer known by many more casual wrestling fans than Ospreay and Okada, and the hope is that the big contract they gave her in March will deliver a boost in the short and long term for the company. However, aside from her debut on Dynamite, the AEW TV ratings since her arrival have remained at the same levels as they were before she joined the promotion.
That might leave some to believe Mercedes Mone’s fame was overstated and more a manifestation of the WWE machine. While that may be debated in the years ahead, WCW legend Eric Bischoff believes no matter what Mone does she will not be a boon for the company because of what he perceives as their consistent mismanagement of their talent and product.
Mercedes Mone will be set up to fail in AEW?
I was asked, do you think Mercedes Mone will have any impact in AEW? And without even taking a deep enough breath to express the one-syllable answer to that, it was no,” Bischoff recently said on his “83 Weeks” podcast. “She’s not, she hasn’t and she won’t. It has nothing to do with her potential or what she’s capable of as a talent. It’s the environment that she is in. There is a lack of vision.”
“It’s just impossible for anybody to show up and have an impact. They can do anything they want to do with her and it’s not going to matter. Saraya, that was going to be a big thing. ‘Oh the women’s division, oh this is it. Game changer.’ Really? What have we seen so far? Absolutely nothing. Two months from now, you’ll be looking at the same scenario for Mercedes. Not because of her, the real problem is there is just no fundamental understanding of how to build a wrestling company for television in this country at AEW.”
When the company signed legends like Jon Moxley, Daniel Bryan, and CM Punk to the roster, they were all moves that made a notable difference due to their star power. However, signings of most other performers like Claudio Castagnoli, the Hardy Boyz, Christian, Samoa Joe, Edge — or recently Ospreay and Okada — and Saraya have made little difference in AEW’s ratings and ticket sales.
Since many of those stars joined the roster ratings and ticket sales have plummeted from previous highs for the promotion. While Bischoff is a well-known AEW detractor, there may be some truth in what he is saying.
More must-reads: