Mercedes Moné Explains How She Broke Free From the Sasha Banks Persona in AEW

Mercedes Moné says her arrival in AEW wasn’t just about switching companies — it was about leaving behind an identity she had spent years building as Sasha Banks in WWE.

Speaking on The Marking Out podcast, the self-proclaimed CEO admitted that her early days in AEW were filled with uncertainty as she tried to figure out who Mercedes Moné was supposed to be. She made a conscious decision to distance her new character from Sasha Banks, ensuring fans wouldn’t see her as simply the same person with a different name.

“I feel like my first couple months with AEW, I was just still trying to figure out who was Mercedes Moné and make sure it wasn’t Sasha Banks. I wanted her to be very, very different so people didn’t want to compare.”

For Moné, that separation was essential. Sasha Banks had become one of the most recognizable names in wrestling, and she didn’t want her AEW journey to be stuck in the shadow of her WWE success.

“I feel so very blessed to be able for fans to call me Mercedes now. It took a long time because Sasha Banks is just such a name in wrestling where Sasha, Sasha, Sasha — I established that name, it’s so established. I’m so thankful.”

After over a year in AEW and nearly three years using the Mercedes Moné name, she feels the shift has paid off. Fans now recognize and respect her new identity — something she worked hard to achieve.

“But now I’m here in my career where I’ve been in AEW for a year and a half, I’ve only had this Mercedes Moné for almost three years, but now fans are having this respect to call me Mercedes Moné and it’s so beautiful.”

She also revealed that part of her rebrand was about raising the stakes for herself. Sasha Banks was “The Legit Boss,” but Mercedes Moné wanted to be even more powerful and self-determined.

“I just really wanted to level up from what Sasha Banks was. She was the legit boss and I wanted to level up to be the CEO, the boss of all bosses. Don’t let everybody tell me what to do — being the CEO of my own life.”

Moné then opened up about the very personal moment that led to the creation of her new name. It came during a period of uncertainty after she left WWE, when she was questioning who she would be in wrestling’s next chapter.

“I was just 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 because there was a wrestler named Mercedes Martinez. I sent my stuff everywhere and they’re like, ‘No, we have Mercedes Martinez, you need a different last name.’ I’m like, ‘Great.’”

The breakthrough came when she thought about what it would take for her to thrive again — and one word kept coming to mind.

“Just like a vision came to my mind of being like, ‘Okay, Mercedes, what is it going to take for you to get back to WWE?’ Well, they got to give me money. Well, what do you want? What did they not pay you? Money. What changes everything? Money. Money… I just kept hearing money and I just said Mercedes Money.”

She experimented with different spellings before landing on “Moné,” then quickly moved to trademark it. From there, speculation ran wild online about where the newly named Mercedes Moné would show up next.

“It just clicked. Then I trademarked it and then I saw all on the internet like, ‘Who’s the Mercedes Moné and where’s she going to go?’ But it just felt like me because that’s what I wanted to be. I want money. I want to grow. I want to be a CEO. I want to take control of my life. And back then, I just didn’t have the money that I have now — the money. I wanted to manifest that money. So I wanted that last name as money.”

Now firmly established in AEW, Moné believes she has completely transformed into her new persona — one that’s built on independence, ambition, and complete creative control.

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