After Mercedes Mone walked out on WWE in 2022, she had difficulty deciding what to do next with her career, having juggled the possibility of working on the independent wrestling circuit, returning to WWE, or calling it quits on the industry. Ultimately, the former WWE star chose to start fresh in New Japan Pro Wrestling, which eventually led her to sign with All Elite Wrestling in 2023, but it was in the midst of her struggles that she truly discovered the name and persona for Mercedes Mone.
"I was sitting in my closet actually crying being like, 'Oh god, what do I do next? Who am I going to be?" But I always wanted to be Mercedes as a wrestler, but I couldn't be back in the independents cause there was a wrestler named Mercedes Martinez," she explained on "Marking Out.""Avision came to my mind of being like, 'Okay, Mercedes, what is it going to take for you to get back to the WWE?' Well, they got to give me money. Well, what do you want? What did they not pay you? Money. What changes everything? Money ... I said Mercedes Mone and I sent it to a couple different people and I said well how should I do the spelling and stuff and just the Mone came and it just clicked."
Mone continued to explain that the name change was a representation of who she wanted to be, a performer who aims to grow and takes control of her life, while manifesting the money she didn't have at the time.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Marking Out" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
