{"id":123373,"date":"2024-03-18T07:00:51","date_gmt":"2024-03-18T11:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=123373"},"modified":"2024-03-15T23:08:09","modified_gmt":"2024-03-16T03:08:09","slug":"potential-opponents-mercedes-mone-aew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2024\/03\/18\/potential-opponents-mercedes-mone-aew\/","title":{"rendered":"Following the Mon\u00e9: Evaluating the Potential Opponents for Mercedes Mon\u00e9 in AEW"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>All Elite Wrestling<\/em><\/strong><em> has hired itself a new CEO. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Wednesday night\u2019s <em><strong>AEW Dynamite<\/strong><\/em>, entitled <strong>Big Business<\/strong> in &#8220;Bo$$ton&#8221; was bookended to put the focus firmly on their latest free agent signing, <strong>Mercedes Mon<\/strong><em><strong>\u00e9<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>First appearing on <strong>AEW <\/strong>screens at London\u2019s <strong><em>All In<\/em><\/strong>, fans have speculated for months if the former <strong>Sasha Banks<\/strong> would join the promotion. For months, AEW fans of AEW for months fans have speculated; fantasy booked the matches they want to see.<\/p>\n<p>For months, optimism and anticipation about AEW\u2019s women\u2019s division being elevated has risen cautiously.<\/p>\n<p>Since <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2023\/11\/27\/two-new-aew-womens-champions-new-past-trends-to-avoid\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>Toni Storm<\/strong> and <strong>Julie Hart<\/strong><\/a> became the women\u2019s champions and the debuts of <strong>Mariah May<\/strong> and <strong>Deonna Purrazzo<\/strong>, hope felt more tangible. On Wednesday, Mercedes did not call for a revolution but made it clear she was in AEW to be the CEO while teasing a dream match with a familiar wave of the hand.<\/p>\n<p>Whether the revolution will be global, or hype will be the subject of another article. Instead, for now, let\u2019s consider the range of fresh opponents Mercedes will have the opportunity to face. Like a wrestling stock market, let\u2019s examine both the short- and long-term gains and risks of bringing a new boss into the AEW women\u2019s locker room.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Measuring Her Opponents<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UttbtQQPcVs?si=1AdIRvpvhVv1arHT\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>We are going to evaluate the prominent members of the AEW\u2019s women&#8217;s locker room. I\u2019m going to use a dollar scale, from 1 to 4 to predict in the short- and long-term the potential these opponents have for great matches, feuds, and storylines with Mon<em>\u00e9. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>$- <strong>A TV-level feud<\/strong>&#8211; an opponent Mon<em>\u00e9<\/em> might face feud with on TV once or be involved with for a short feud.<\/p>\n<p>$$- <strong>A<\/strong> <strong>PPV feud<\/strong>&#8211; an opponent Mon<em>\u00e9<\/em> is likely to face long-term with the blow-off being on a PPV.<\/p>\n<p>$$$- <strong>A Dream match<\/strong>&#8211; An opponent that fans may pay to see if on PPV.<\/p>\n<p>$$$$- <strong>A Legacy feud<\/strong>&#8211; A long-term feud that will be revisited throughout Mone\u2019s run where both wrestlers will change, and lore will develop around their matches.<\/p>\n<p>Like the stock market, reality is bound to fluctuate based on events I cannot predict. Few $ wrestlers will be mentioned. If you disagree with any of my takes, please let me know in the comments.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Opponents Options to Watch For <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Starting with the lower-stack stock, the following bundles are better long-term investment options. Wrestlers who will benefit from working with Mercedes Mon<em>\u00e9 <\/em>now and in years to come. These ladies are destined for better things, but may not be the ones to dethrone Mon\u00e9 or take the torch from her in years to come.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Skye Blue <\/strong>&#8211; Short-term $, Long-term $$.<\/h3>\n<p>After this week\u2019s <em>Dynamite<\/em>, Skye could be Mon<em>\u00e9<\/em>\u2019s debut opponent. A well-deserved spot from Chicago whose confidence and skills are gaining her a notable following. Yet Skye is still developing her character skills as a heel.<\/p>\n<p>In the future, as she grows with confidence, early history could be revisited. Skye could be a fun PPV title contender for Mon\u00e9 when she eventually wins the women\u2019s championship.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Red Velvet <\/strong>&#8211; Short-term $, Long-term $$$$<\/h3>\n<p>Since returning from injury, <strong>Red Velvet<\/strong> has made the most of her minutes. Her fire and attitude have become pronounced and stay with you, even in defeat. That fire might be overlooked now and might strike an accord with Mon<em>\u00e9. <\/em>There are similarities between Mon<em>\u00e9 <\/em>and Velvet, as well as contrasts in their styles.<\/p>\n<p>More than an opponent, Velvet could even be a future tag team partner or even a prot\u00e9g\u00e9 role to Mon<em>\u00e9. <\/em>Possibly an aid against <strong>Toni Storm<\/strong> and her entourage? And over time, could try to usurp her mentor?<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Queen Aminata <\/strong>&#8211; Short-term $, Long-term $$$$<\/h3>\n<p>Already, the Guinean native continues to generate buzz. Impressing in defeat and having a strong run in the <strong>ROH <em>Women\u2019s World TV Championship<\/em><\/strong> tournament shows AEW values the queen\u2019s abilities.<\/p>\n<p>Aminata could offer Mon\u00e9 a hard-hitting underdog challenger now or as a heel. With forethought, there\u2019s no reason that like Velvet, more could be made of Aminata\u2019s potential. Another queen possibly stepping up to take the crown? With time of course.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Blue-Chip Opponents for Now <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Blue chip stock is seen as a valuable, established, and stable choice. Early on, these women are likely strong candidates for the CEO to prove their top-dog positioning.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Saraya <\/strong>&#8211; Short-term $$, Long-term $$$$<\/h3>\n<p>Maybe obvious and safe, but these women&#8217;s history. Besides leading the<strong> WWE\u2019s<\/strong> &#8216;Women\u2019s Revolution&#8217; or Mon<em>\u00e9 <\/em>being accused of ending <strong>Saraya\u2019s<\/strong> career, there is a more interesting AEW-centric storyline. Mon\u00e9 was able to do what Saraya couldn\u2019t: elevate the women\u2019s division.<\/p>\n<p>In-ring, Saraya has found her footing after winning the AEW Women\u2019s Championship last year. Her performances against <strong>Hikaru Shida<\/strong> and Toni Storm were overlooked, and the former Paige could be a good short TV program or PPV opponent. Ideally not Mon<em>\u00e9\u2019s<\/em> first due to being the solid and familiar choice.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Willow Nightingale <\/strong>&#8211; Short-term $, Long-term $$$$<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TcTI5pWczEs?si=lFcNz88-8iEQMM42\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>There is an in-built story with Nightingale beating Mercedes Mon<em>\u00e9<\/em> for the <strong>NJPW <\/strong>Strong Women\u2019s Championship<strong>.<\/strong> Yet Mon<em>\u00e9<\/em> had a broken ankle.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tgaNUI5rGmM?si=Oc5H5v9NCOhNuLov\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Yet beyond a rematch, Willow\u2019s infectious personality might give the humble Mon\u00e9 a temporary ally. With a future heel turn of Mon\u00e9 to her an entitled egotistical superstar, Willow could be the perfect foil: AEW\u2019s <strong>Bayley<\/strong>. Given the recent history, there is room for this to be a legacy feud that interconnects both women throughout their AEW runs.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Serena Deeb <\/strong>&#8211; Short-term $-$$ Long-term $$<\/h3>\n<p>Strong hints since Deeb\u2019s return have made it clear she\u2019s the boss of this division. Deeb\u2019s the one to elevate it. As Mon\u00e9 first PPV match at <em><strong>Dynasty<\/strong><\/em>, this has the potential to be a great PPV debut for Mon\u00e9 and a well-deserved platform for Deeb.<\/p>\n<p>Deeb is a fantastic wrestler\/magician, capable of getting Mercedes Mon<em>\u00e9<\/em>\u2019s very best. However, this might be the ceiling for their potential feud as Deeb seems more in the <strong>Scott Hall<\/strong> position. She\u2019s there to help elevate the women to those top spots.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Longer-Term Blue-Chip Opponents<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>These respected, fan-favorites are good opponents for Mon<em>\u00e9<\/em> in later months. Whether as contenders for her inevitable AEW Women\u2019s Championship reign or when\/if she turns heel.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Kris Statlander <\/strong>&#8211; Short-term $$ Long-term $$$$<\/h3>\n<p>Where was Statlander on <em>Dynamite<\/em> when Willow was attacked? Assaulted backstage, allegedly. The tease of a heel turn, guided by <strong>Stokely Hathaway<\/strong>, has been made. Mon\u00e9 made the save for Willow, which now ties her to the Statlander\/Willow\u2019s friendship angle.<\/p>\n<p>If Statlander does turn, it might work better if AEW holds off on pitting them against each other.<\/p>\n<p>Build Statlander as a heel first. Challenge Mercedes Mon<em>\u00e9<\/em> later down the road. Build anticipation. Or if Statlander remains a good guy, wait until Mon<em>\u00e9 <\/em>is a heel. Statlander deserves such an opportunity on PPV.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Hikaru Shida &#8211; <\/strong>Short-term $$, Long-term $$$<\/h3>\n<p>Beloved by fans, Shida has been the division\u2019s rock and stabilizer. A physical encounter with Shida could pay dividends.<\/p>\n<p>Tying how Mercedes Mon<em>\u00e9 <\/em>traveled to Japan to face the very best Joshi wrestlers, to eventually face Shida makes the former three-time AEW women\u2019s champion feel like a big deal. If rushed for the sake of a good TV match, because Shida is reliable and consistent in those big match situations risks harming the women\u2019s division and Shida.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Thunder Rosa <\/strong>&#8211; Short-term $$, Long-term $$$<\/h3>\n<p>Since Rosa\u2019s return from injury, Rosa has been gaining wins but has lacked a clear direction. &#8216;La Mera Mera&#8217; hit issues during her AEW Women\u2019s Championship reign, but her aura can be rebuilt to allow this to feel like a dream match.<\/p>\n<p>With the right storyline, booking, and build, Rosa could be a throne in Mon<em>\u00e9<\/em>\u2019s ascension to the championship. Or a championship contender down the line.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Risky Opponents <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>These opponents will seem like strong PPV matches at worst and dream matches at best. What\u2019s risky is the potential for an underwhelming match due to poor timing, execution, and build. Especially as the latter two are wrestlers returning from injury who need time to be ring-ready and re-establish their characters.<\/p>\n<h3>Toni Storm &#8211; Short-term $$$, Long-term $$<\/h3>\n<p>As a character, Storm is captivating. Delivering some of the most memorable and quotable lines on weekly TV, Storm as a champion has been distinctive. Toni\u2019s stirred conversation about the women\u2019s division. Problematically, the character hasn\u2019t translated to the ring, especially on PPV.<\/p>\n<p>Mon<em>\u00e9<\/em> is a perfect foil to Storm as a modern Hollywood-looking superstar. Mercedes is likely the next women\u2019s championship, but a bad match risks the revolution stumbling, like Toni during her championship acceptance segment, before it begins.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Jamie Hayter <\/strong>&#8211; Short-term $$$, Long-term $$$$<\/h3>\n<p>I love <strong>Jamie Hayter\u2019s<\/strong> hard-hitting style and imagining selling it Mon<em>\u00e9<\/em>\u2019s selling it. A fan-made graphic for <em>All In<\/em> this year featured Mercedes vs. Hayter. The risk is Hayter being physically ready. London may be too soon, especially as Hayter losing in England does her no favors and could hurt Mon<em>\u00e9 <\/em>also<em>. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Unless maybe Hayter\u2019s best friend turns on her&#8230;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. <\/strong>&#8211; Short-term $$$, Long-Term $$-$$$$<\/h3>\n<p>The CEO&#8217;s hand gesture, the way Mercedes Mon\u00e9 spelled it, looked familiar. Oh, yeah! D, M, D!<\/p>\n<p>The seeds have been planted, but like with Hayter, there\u2019s a risk of doing this match too early. Baker has been absent for a while, Baker needs time to reheat herself.<\/p>\n<p>Her star power diminished last year during a stale baby-face run. Baker needs to bring back the role model fans fell in love with to match Mon<em>\u00e9\u2019s <\/em>aura. Otherwise, AEW risks Baker overshadowing and undermining a former champion\u2019s future in the division.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Investments in Gold<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>These final picks seem most likely overtime to be legacy opponents who have a lot to gain from working with a former <em><strong>WrestleMania<\/strong><\/em> headliner, both now and over time. These women seem they could in the future AEW Women\u2019s Champion.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Athena &#8211; <\/strong>Short-term $$$, Long-Term $$$$<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JPr_6aIyXuU?si=7GHUVA-b1p13_2ox\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Undoubtedly, the best part of ROH has been <strong>Athena<\/strong>. A brutal, ultra-confident, and undeniable &#8216;War Goddess&#8217; is someone many fans would like to see smack humility into Mon<em>\u00e9<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Besides an in-built storyline of Athena&#8217;s feelings, she is overlooked and is the best women\u2019s wrestler in the world, Athena as a character has shown versatility. Over time and given each woman\u2019s skills, this could be a brutal blood feud could elevate expectations of what the women\u2019s division can achieve.<\/p>\n<p>Like how Baker\/Rosa set the standard for women\u2019s blunder brawls in AEW.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Mariah May <\/strong>&#8211; Short-term $, Long-Term $$$$<\/h3>\n<p>The understudy may be an obstacle for Mercedes Mon\u00e9 if she feuds with Toni Storm, but looking ahead, it\u2019s all about Mariah. Already, May has a cult fanbase based on a well-crafted build, a handful of in-ring matches, and clear direction foreshadowing.<\/p>\n<p>While Mariah can afford to take an L to Mon\u00e9 early on, there\u2019s room for the former <strong>STARDOM <\/strong>standout to grow into a future rival who could upstage Mon\u00e9, like her hero, Toni Storm.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Julia Hart <\/strong>&#8211; Short-term $, Long-Term $$$$<\/h3>\n<p>Like May, Julia might face Mercedes Mon<em>\u00e9<\/em> sooner rather than later, but likely in tag team action. The <strong>TBS <\/strong>Champion\u2019s transformation as a character and wrestler has rightly brought her acclaim.<\/p>\n<p>Whether in her current guise or a different persona, Hart\u2019s got years to prepare and keep challenging to claim the huge scalp of Mon<em>\u00e9. <\/em>As Julia\u2019s growth continues, what\u2019s to stop Julia from being another future queen who will overthrow the monarchy?<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Forecast: Rain<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vzDhzKnMgKM?si=mxp5qMu3i63NAl2M\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m an optimist by nature, but the potential when you have one of the best female wrestlers of a generation is going to be high. I had to cut from this list several women who may have been rated as a $ or $$ on my scale, yet would still offer an exciting, intriguing, and fun character, storyline, or a simple wrestling match for Mercedes<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>As my subheading suggests: it\u2019s going to rain. The signs are good, at least in the short-term, and based on the recent debuts of Mercedes, <strong>Will Ospreay,<\/strong> and<strong> Kazuchika<\/strong> <strong>Okada<\/strong>. The issue is: how much and for how long it will rain?<\/p>\n<p>I intend to explain in a later article, that whether Mercedes is allowed to become the rainmaker the women\u2019s division needs is not solely in her control. The issue will be how much time, patience, and effort <strong>Tony Khan <\/strong>puts into women\u2019s creativity.<\/p>\n<p>History has shown wrestling bookers can have all the right players, and all the right conditions and still mess up because of biases and priorities.<\/p>\n<p>Tony has another rainmaker to play with and history has suggested AEW will put more time into the men&#8217;s division than it will the women, even now when a revolution is in the pipeline.<\/p>\n<p>However, the hiring of <strong>Jennifer Pepperman<\/strong>, someone with whom Mercedes has worked closely before seems to be a good indicator that Khan\u2019s going to give Mon\u00e9 the chance to be the money-maker she believes she can be.<\/p>\n<h3>More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/h3>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-50\">\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-50\">\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-50\">\n<p><em>Header photo \u2013 AEW \u2013 Stay tun<\/em><em>ed to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"1\" target=\"_self\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.\u00a0 You can catch AEW Dynamite on Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS. AEW Rampage airs on TNT at 10 PM EST every Friday night. AEW Collision airs Saturday at 8pm Eastern on TNT. More AEW content available on their\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@AEW\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">YouTube<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All Elite Wrestling has hired itself a new CEO. Wednesday night\u2019s AEW Dynamite, entitled Big Business in &#8220;Bo$$ton&#8221; was bookended to put the focus firmly on their latest free agent signing, Mercedes Mon\u00e9. First appearing on AEW screens at London\u2019s All In, fans have speculated for months if the former Sasha Banks would join the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4960,"featured_media":123382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4677,5302,6,2192,317],"tags":[8320,160,5981,4972,2810,7716,4634,8737,8521,6803,6946,8450,159,1593,7608,2803,598,3625],"class_list":["post-123373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aew","category-joshi","category-north-america","category-wrestling","category-women","tag-athena","tag-bayley","tag-dr-britt-baker","tag-hikaru-shida","tag-jamie-hayter","tag-julia-hart","tag-kris-statlander","tag-mariah-may","tag-mercedes-mone","tag-queen-aminata","tag-red-velvet","tag-saraya","tag-sasha-banks","tag-serena-deeb","tag-skye-blue","tag-thunder-rosa","tag-toni-storm","tag-willow-nightingale"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4960"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}