Mercedes Mone (Sasha Banks) Reportedly Signed with AEW and to be Saraya’s Partner on Next Week’s AEW Dynamite
Saraya’s announcement that Toni Storm will be her partner on next week’s AEW Dynamite (January 11) seems like a fun one with other vying for Storm’s spot, but it’s being treated as a red herring.
While it was expected AEW would sign a former WWE talent, since that is pretty typical anymore, the news was announced by DAZN’s Steven Muehlhausen when he announced prior to January 4’s AEW Dynamite that Mercedes Mone signed with AEW in Twitter.
Mercedes Mone (Sasha Banks) Reportedly Signed with AEW and to be Saraya’s Partner on Next Week’s AEW Dynamite (1/11)
“Sources: Mercedes Varnado will be Saraya’s partner next week in #AEWDynamite in LA against Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter. Couldn’t announce or make a major hint due to her being still under contract to WWE until the beginning of 2023.”
This isn’t a surprise as just about everyone expected this move at some point, but Mercedes had to wait until her WWE contract ended before she could make an announcement or do appearances.
https://twitter.com/SMuehlhausenJr/status/1610796856581169153
Fresh start
Mercedes appeared at NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 17 and attacked KAIRI and challenged her for her title at Battle in the Valley on February 18.
She’s been busy as it was reported that she also opened a Pro Wrestling Tees store.
Merchandising is an important part of a wrestler’s income, and now that Mercedes is reportedly signed to AEW it’ll help get even more visibility for the former WWE Superstar.
Mercedes adds instant credibility to AEW’s women’s division that has plenty of stars but has lose steam recently, and this will only help everyone involved.
It’s going to be great to see her back in the ring since she and Naomi walked out of WWE Raw seven months ago.
We’ve been waiting for a long time to find out what the future has in store for her, and now it looks like we’re going to be rewarded for our semi-patience.
False hype
Of course, this could be false hype being generated by a possible signing, and since Tony Kahn hasn’t made a spectacle of “a major announcement” it seems either it didn’t happen or he’s learned fans are tired of said announcements.
One reason this could prove disingenuous is because Mercedes has her own merchandise store. This could be evidence that she’s only working with AEW on an appearances deal instead of a contract, otherwise she’d most likely rely on AEW’s shop.
But it’s also possible she learned some valuable lessons from her time in the WWE, and one of those is to never put all her eggs in one basket and remain in control of everything with her name on it.
She’s her own brand and could go a long way in undoing the idea of companies being the brand over their talent.
Do you think Mercedes will be Saraya’s partner next week? Let us know in the comments below.
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