Is Mercedes Moné Helping Women’s Wrestling—or is AEW Protecting Her So Much That the Division is Paying the Price?

The case that she’s a net positive

She brought star power and stakes on Day 1. Moné debuted at Dynamite: Big Business (TD Garden, Mar. 13, 2024), with AEW confirming a multi-year deal soon after. That arrival instantly reframed AEW’s women’s ceiling: a true global headliner, fresh feuds, and crossover buzz.

She won big and kept the spotlight hot. In her first AEW match, she beat Willow Nightingale at Double or Nothing (May 26–27, 2024) to win the TBS Championship—an emphatic “we’re all-in on Mercedes” statement. One month later, at Forbidden Door (June 30–July 1, 2024), she won the NJPW STRONG Women’s title in a winner-take-all bout with Stephanie Vaquer, positioning AEW’s women at the center of an inter-promotional showcase.

She has functioned as a reliable ratings needle. When Moné returned to TV in August 2025, Tony Khan publicly touted “tremendous” Dynamite numbers; Wrestlenomics data posts around her featured matches routinely appear in their weekly breakdowns (e.g., Mar. 19, 2025). No one wrestler saves a quarter-hour every week, but the correlation between Moné segments and AEW’s promotional push is real.

She’s built a champion’s résumé. By fall 2025, Moné’s TBS reign had passed 20 defenses, and she added even more hardware at WrestleDream 2025, beating Mina Shirakawa in a title-for-title surprise. Whether you love or hate the finish, the optics are: AEW has a dominant, active champion.

The case that AEW is over-protecting her—and how that affects the division?

Protected finishes can blur competitive credibility. WrestleDream (Oct. 18–19, 2025) ended with Moné using her feet on the ropes for the pin—classic heel stuff, sure, but another data point that AEW often books around her aura rather than letting the match’s outcome speak cleanly. That choice also stole oxygen from Mina Shirakawa’s return and Statlander’s post-match framing.

The Moné orbit sometimes narrows TV time for others. AEW’s women still fight the “one major segment” perception; when Moné’s story dominates that segment, secondary feuds can vanish for weeks. Even Tony Khan has cited injuries or availability to explain women’s booking gaps—but recent tallies show the roster is far deeper than the weekly airtime suggests, meaning the bottleneck isn’t just health; it’s allocation.

Title gravity without ecosystem lift. Moné as TBS champ gives AEW a marquee anchor, but the surrounding card hasn’t consistently escalated mid-card programs in parallel. Example: stretches where the TBS program got the premium narrative beats while workers like Skye Blue, Kiera Hogan, or returning names cycled in and out of short matches with minimal follow-through—creating the feeling that unless you’re in the Moné/Statlander/Toni Storm lane, you’re waiting your turn. (This is a structural critique backed by AEW’s own sporadic emphasis more than a single stat; the injury commentary above underscores the point.)

Specific beats to consider

• Big Business to DoN 2024: Debut pop → immediate championship win over Willow Nightingale at Double or Nothing. Momentum? Absolutely. Downside? It leapfrogged long-term Willow arcs that many fans wanted to breathe.

• Forbidden Door 2024: Inter-promotional win vs. Stephanie Vaquer showcased Moné as a global closer—great for AEW’s prestige, but it also meant another non-AEW talent took the L while AEW’s own pecking order remained clogged.

• 2025 TV & returns: Khan publicly celebrating ratings tied to Moné’s appearances confirms Moné is treated as a needle mover. The risk is programming around the moment rather than the division’s week-to-week health.

• WrestleDream 2025 finish: Rope-assisted pin over Mina Shirakawa; immediate Statlander confrontation. It fueled heat for Moné, but the “protect the star, protect the moment” approach again overshadowed building two or three women simultaneously on the same night.

So…help or hindrance?

Help: She’s an international star who immediately raised AEW’s women’s ceiling, delivered showcase matches across companies, boosted visibility, and made the TBS title feel big. The first-night title win and Forbidden Door triumphs were tangible, marketable wins for women’s wrestling on a central U.S. platform.

Hindrance (but fixable, and not her fault): AEW often books around Moné rather than through the division. Protected finishes, single-segment bottlenecks, and sporadic investment in non-Moné stories yield the perception that the women’s roster exists to orbit the champion instead of co-headlining with her. That’s a production choice, not a Moné problem.

What would “using Mercedes to lift everyone” look like?

1. Two anchored women’s segments every week. One is the Moné program (TBS or title-for-title angles). The other is a distinct feud (e.g., Jamie Hayter vs. Thekla-type violence showcased at PPV) that gets long-term beats and time parity. (WrestleDream proved the roster has the pieces.)

2. Fewer escape hatches, more decisive finishes. Let Moné beat strong opponents clean sometimes—and lose clean once in a blue moon to a next-up star (Willow, Statlander, or an import). The “protected aura” won’t suffer; the division’s credibility will spike.

3. Rotate Moné into trios/tags to spotlight depth. AEW can pair her with or against under-televised workers to share shine without sacrificing pay-per-view mystique.

4. Use cross-promotional capital to elevate AEW stories. Forbidden Door-style matches are great—but follow them with clear TV arcs for the AEW women involved so the momentum stays in-house.

Final bell

Mercedes Moné is absolutely a help to women’s wrestling—in name value, match quality, and mainstream attention. If parts of AEW’s women’s division feel like they’re suffering, that’s a booking economy issue, not a Mercedes issue. Give the division consistent time beside her, stop over-massaging every finish, and let the roster breathe. AEW has the talent; using Moné as a rising tide instead of a single wave is how you prove it.