Mercedes Moné addition invokes questions for AEW women’s division

The likely addition of Mercedes Moné to the AEW roster suggests potential challenges for an already underutilized women’s division. 

The likely addition of Mercedes Moné to the All Elite Wrestling roster could suggest large challenges for an already underutilized women’s division.

After early conversations for a return to WWE were said to be unfruitful, reports surfaced indicating that AEW was finally in business with The Boss.

On the Feb. 7 episode of AEW Dynamite, CEO Tony Khan announced AEW would return to Boston on March 13 with a special addition of its flagship show, titled AEW Dynamite: Big Business, all but confirming that the Boston native was scheduled to debut.

Following the “Big Business” announcement, Fightful Select and Andrew Zarian reported that Moné was already under contract with AEW, having been on payroll since January; her debut indeed imminent.

The likely addition of Moné creates a slew of questions for the AEW women’s division — questions derived from a clear imbalance between the treatment of the women’s division when compared to the men’s division.

Using statistics from 2023, AEW gave its women only 19% of matches on Dynamite and 26.2% of matches on Rampage. Women’s match time proved to be even worse in 2023, with 14.9% given on Dynamite and 22.2% on Rampage. Those are just television percentages; PPV figures are even worse. All told, they are numbers that don’t exactly generate confidence in AEW’s ability to utilize a new addition to its women’s roster.

Let’s be honest: Moné is not just another addition, either. The Boss will undoubtedly bring in her own bigger-than-life fanbase. A fanbase that, for the most part, likely isn’t in the business of watching AEW product. The former WWE Horsewoman has a tried-and-true following clamoring for more action. When she does step back into the ring, the devotees are sure to follow.

This is a fact AEW knows and plans on benefiting from. AEW surely knows the edge and position of power Moné would provide with her presence. Tony Khan and crew have undoubtedly have paid for that leverage dearly. As such, it’s reasonable to believe Moné will be a fixture on AEW television. Her spot at the top is a given.

So, with the benefit of having Moné on the payroll and such a small amount of time given to the women’s division, where does that lead the rest of the roster? The women’s roster is already comparatively small, with a good number of talent out of action or rarely utilized. How can AEW create an atmosphere where a large part of its women’s division is allowed to thrive, while also ensuring their star signee is placed at the forefront?

The question is a hard one to answer. When analyzing the men’s roster, one can even see how the majority of that roster is not being used. Now take into account that the women of AEW are often given less than a quarter of the same exposure in the ring. Sure, a good chunk of women are currently stationed at Ring of Honor tapings, but that doesn’t answer the big question: Will the women’s division suffer or benefit from The Boss?

The argument has been made that Moné will only increase the value and significance of the women’s roster. With so many new eyes on the product, how can AEW not respond with an increase in visibility? The counterargument is also valid: Mercedes is one individual. AEW doesn’t necessarily need to respond with an increase in matches. More women of AEW could simply be benched.

While appearing for the Grit & Glitter podcast discussing the news, Warren Hayes argued that divisions are often built around one person when looking back at wrestling’s history.

“Divisions and promotions are often built around one person. There’s more than enough precedent in wrestling; Flair, Hogan, even Asuka back in her NXT days. Building a top star not only to topple, but to help create great matches, creates inherent hype and drama in matches, up and down the card. You just need the right person in that position and Mercedes is that: talented worker, superstar presence, business mover.”

There’s evidence that AEW hasn’t changed its numbers in response to any new woman signee. There’s also a consensus in some circles that the world title has always been the focus of the division, receiving the vast majority of time and investment, and every other story has been an afterthought. How often do we see women’s AEW storylines dissipate after a short run? Often, women have made stars out of themselves, in spite of the story given. That, systematically, can be seen across promotions, for both men and women.

There’s precedent for star power creating serious, positive change for a card. There’s also history to the contrary. When you look at how often athletes like Asuka are pushed into a placement unfitting of their level of talent, it’s fair to say that wrestling is always evolving, and predicting the outcome of any addition is nearly impossible. There are just too many revolving parts, and the level of time and interest the promotion places into the division as a whole is just one of them.

It’s not common that woman signees, huge or not, change the direction of an entire division, and in return, create opportunities that weren’t already there. The signing of Ronda Rousey is one example of how the introduction of a star can often backfire. The “it” factor of the WWE women’s division surely saw an increase for a time, but the attention and special treatment Rousey received was not beneficial to the rest of the division.

The fact remains that Moné’s presence can’t possibly create a positive trickle down effect if there isn’t time to give to the hype and drama. If there’s consistently only one woman’s match on a PPV, one women’s match on the flagship program and one well-pushed title, is it even possible to give intrigue to other stories? There’s not a history of AEW changing their approach with the women.

Simply put, you can’t compare what has occurred in the past and present between men and women wrestlers because they are not treated equal. In fact, there’s a long history of the exact opposite; a strong and extreme history, in some cases.

“Let it play out” is not a favorite phrase for most women’s wrestling fans, but in this case, it’s as good as any. Moné is an unprecedented signing for AEW, and that could mean an unprecedented change for their women’s division.

It’s also true that history repeats itself, as it’s proven to do so in many companies, and the result of her presence is just business as usual. It’s unsettling that AEW hasn’t put this amount of faith and trust into its women’s division already. The promotion has upped the ante in what is an assumed response to Moné, but that’s even more concerning. Why not provide time to the women AEW touted so proudly? When asked, Khan doesn’t pause for a second to brag about the women of the company. Why, then, wait until a huge signing to provide a noticeable difference in utilization?

Most of these challenges won’t be addressed until the what ifs become facts. The excited and cautious alike are jumping the gun when assuming the best or worst outcome. While the reports of Moné’s addition create bold scenarios in the minds of every fan, producing deep discussions worth exploring, nothing is certain. We will indeed, have to let it play out.