{"id":146914,"date":"2025-11-26T06:30:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T11:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=146914"},"modified":"2025-11-25T00:28:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T05:28:27","slug":"aew-star-mercedes-mone-and-the-spiritual-belief-of-aparigraha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/11\/26\/aew-star-mercedes-mone-and-the-spiritual-belief-of-aparigraha\/","title":{"rendered":"AEW Star Mercedes Mone and the Spiritual Belief of Aparigraha"},"content":{"rendered":"

AEW Full Gear 2025 saw Mercedes Mone make yet another unsuccessful bid for the AEW Women\u2019s World Championship, losing to the reigning Kris Statlander. This was only her second time vying for the title, having done so previously against \u201cTimeless\u201d Toni Storm at All In.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet that doesn\u2019t mean she\u2019s deprived of gold\u201414 championships. Surpassing the image of Ultimo Dragon following the 1996 J-Cup, Mone has journeyed across the world. Along the way, she\u2019s won belts from independent promotions in England, Poland, Mexico, Canada, Austria, and more. She\u2019s shown no signs of stopping; when it seems she may be content, there\u2019s another title in her collection.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mone\u2019s a fantastic wrestler, with the results to back it up. She thrives in big matches, earns high ratings, ranks high on lists, and remains in the conversation of both fans and naysayers alike. <\/span><\/p>\n

Her TBS Championship reign has recently overwhelmed the 508-day reign of the current WWE Women\u2019s Champion, Jade Cargill. So, why can\u2019t Mone chip past the armor around the changing holders of the AEW Women\u2019s World Championship?<\/span><\/p>\n

What is Aparigraha?<\/span><\/h2>\n

First, we must start with the spiritual belief of aparigraha. Aparigraha, or non-possessiveness, is one of the five yamas (otherwise known as restraints) that guide the self to move lightly when it comes to belongings. According to Yoga International, it <\/span>compels humans to let go of material, both physically and mentally<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

The more an individual wants and covets, the more it burdens them, anchoring them from what they can truly aspire to.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Possessiveness fogs the mind, preventing people from discarding things that are no longer of use to them or have outgrown. Whether it\u2019s a sentimental item, a milestone, or a relationship that\u2019s gone stale, it\u2019s baggage that weighs heavily. When there\u2019s a tangible thing to latch onto, it isn\u2019t easy to let go. <\/span><\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re mourning a time period, a place, or a loved one, it sinks its claws into you when indulged too much. Sometimes nostalgia is as parasitic as it is healing.<\/span><\/p>\n

As William Faulkner once said, \u201cThe past is never dead. It\u2019s not even past.\u201d In wielding what was so fiercely, we deny ourselves the visibility of what\u2019s in front of us. In Faulkner\u2019s short story \u201cA Rose for Emily\u201d, the titular Emily has a hard time letting go of relationships. Throughout the story, readers see how heavily it weighs upon her.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I think we\u2019re seeing that with Mercedes Mone\u2019s character.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why Does Mercedes Mone Need Aparigraha?<\/span><\/h2>\n

To me, Mone\u2019s belts signify a few things about her wrestling persona. The baggage that saw her leave WWE\u2019s Sasha Banks behind. That 2023 injury at NJPW Resurgence\u2014why she\u2019s still spiteful of Willow Nightingale. Her negative perception by influencers and media personalities<\/a> who claim to know her intentions and who she is, despite her limited contact with most media. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sasha Banks\u2019s overwhelming shadow that dictated her life and identity, even when she performed under WWE. There are loads of possibilities to draw from. Since I don\u2019t know Mercedes Vernado personally, I cannot say with certainty.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fiction is a funny thing. Sometimes we find symbolism and meaning where there was none intended whatsoever. Sometimes. There\u2019s a path, a long one, where Mone is heading. The CEO will likely be uncontent. She\u2019ll continue to fill that hole, again and again, and still it will gape wide open, begging to be fed once more. Yet there\u2019s nothing, there\u2019s no surface at the pit, just a maw that stretches to an infinity. But it can be closed.<\/span><\/p>\n

As many fans have posited, this can easily come through a fractured psyche. A catastrophic mental, emotional, and spiritual phenomenon unique only unto her that strips away her hoard. A breakdown, soaked in tears and wails, pathetic to onlookers but deeply scarring to her. And in that, there may be a healing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Aparigraha and How It Can Help Mercedes Mone<\/span><\/h2>\n

The reason that Mone desperately yearns to hold the AEW Women\u2019s World Championship is that it\u2019s a glory she struggles to hold onto. In WWE, Sasha Banks, her previous persona, held some huge championships, with neither of them having the same impact as her iconic NXT run with that women\u2019s division\u2019s belt. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a reign that awoke many North American fans as to what women\u2019s wrestling could genuinely be. But on the main roster, her championship reigns were short. Even her and Bayley\u2019s initial inaugural Women\u2019s Tag Team Championship tenure lacked impact.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A
Photo Credit: By All Elite Wrestling<\/a> – All Elite Wrestling, CC BY-SA 4.0,<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With her becoming the second IWGP Women\u2019s Champion in 2023, Mone showed the world she had more to offer than sports entertainment. In parting with the Banks, Mone displayed the variety needed to present her eventual vision. By the time she signed with AEW in 2024, the CEO\u2019s adventure truly began.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her mission? To show the world that women can aspire to be greater than just one monopolistic entity. Through this, young girls could grow up and see what they could do. In challenging champions across the globe, Mone\u2019s spread this belief internationally. She\u2019s platformed independent stars in addition to indie promotions. Elevating the world of pro wrestling beyond the giants of the industry is a net positive she\u2019s contributed to.<\/span><\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/span><\/h2>\n

So to earn that elusive prize, she would have to abandon all of it. All of it, just to stand among the greats and transform her career by finally having a substantial run as a network television World Champion in North America.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Could she do it? Can Mercedes Mone find it in herself to etch her name in the history books once again by letting go of her relentless hunger for gold? This dragon can unsheath her fangs and breathe her fire, but it is by the solemn and dedicated knowledge of letting go. All she has to do is center herself, embrace the fear and desires of her ego, and see the future laid bare in front of her.<\/span><\/p>\n

Only then can she overcome this obstacle and become the AEW Women\u2019s World Champion. The golden scales shed to reveal that she is weightless and can fly. There will be nothing dragging her down because she\u2019d have pushed them all out of the way, to paraphrase her WWE theme, \u201cSky\u2019s the Limit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n

Header photo \u2013 AEW\u00a0\u2013 Stay tuned to the\u00a0Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a> for more on Mercedes Mone 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 Collision airs Saturday at 8 pm Eastern on TNT. More AEW content available on their YouTube<\/a><\/i><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AEW Full Gear 2025 saw Mercedes Mone make yet another unsuccessful bid for the AEW Women\u2019s World Championship, losing to the reigning Kris Statlander. This was only her second time vying for the title, having done so previously against \u201cTimeless\u201d Toni Storm at All In. Yet that doesn\u2019t mean she\u2019s deprived of gold\u201414 championships. Surpassing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5361,"featured_media":147019,"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":[4677,6,2192,317],"tags":[8521,159],"class_list":["post-146914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aew","category-north-america","category-wrestling","category-women","tag-mercedes-mone","tag-sasha-banks"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146914","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\/5361"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146914"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147020,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146914\/revisions\/147020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}