Below are a couple of top WWE & AEW news stories of the day, featuring Mercedes Mone and Jinder Mahal.
• Mercedes Mone, who has had a successful career in both WWE and AEW, revealed insights into her experience with the two promotions. Mone (then known as Sasha Banks) left WWE in May 2022 after a disagreement with Vince McMahon and later joined NJPW, debuting at Wrestle Kingdom in January 2023. She signed with AEW the following year.
In her newsletter, Mone shared that she had initially planned to be part of WWE’s WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles, but her plans shifted when AEW President Tony Khan invited her to All In at Wembley Stadium.
Discussing the differences between WWE and AEW, Mone told The Independent the following:
“The difference between the two companies is night and day. In WWE, you have no idea what you’ll be doing week to week, but here I have space to be heard. Along with Tony Khan and with my friend and personal writer Jennifer Pepperman, there’s time to sit down and really plan out the kind of stories we want to tell. I’m treated with genuine respect, and I really feel seen in a way I sometimes haven’t before. I love it so much here.”
Mone is set to defend her TBS Women’s Title against Britt Baker at All In this Sunday.
WATCH: Mercedes Mone / Sasha Banks’ Buns Accidentally Exposed In AEW:
• On the Talk Is Jericho podcast, Jinder Mahal talked about his last couple of years in WWE before his release.
The Modern Day Maharaja said that WWE Officials considered him retired:
“The last 2 years, I wasn’t doing much. I was managing Indus Sher. In a way, they had retired me. They told me I wasn’t an active wrestler anymore, which was kind of weird.
I think maybe they just wanted the focus to be on Indus Sher. I don’t know, something fresh, something new which I get because I had become very stale.
Creative wise, I wasn’t doing much, which is, okay, I get it. I get it. Things change. That’s how my career has always been.”
