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WWE AEW TBS Champion Mercedes Mone has opened up about her struggles after being called ‘unsafe’ following a WWE match by fans.
As Sasha Banks in WWE, Mercedes Mone would feature in a tag team match that would see her deliver a kick to Paige (now Saraya in AEW) at an untelevised event on December 27, 2017.
The move would see the match brought quickly to an end with it later being revealed that Paige would no longer be able to compete in the ring, forcing her into early retirement.
Due to the popularity of Paige, Mone found herself on the receiving end of online abuse that affected her mental health.
She discussed her struggles after the incident on Hot 97, revealing:
“I was not impressed by that. That definitely set me on a spiral of depression, because wrestling has always been my biggest dream and I’ve always wanted to be the greatest at it.
“So to hear any kind of noise that people might not think you’re safe, it wasn’t even the boys in the back, it was the fans thinking you’re not safe.
“It’s scary sometimes, but that’s the business that we’re in. You never know when you’re going to get hurt. You never know when you’re going to sprain something, break a neck, break a knee.
“It’s the business, you have to go out there knowing that you’re going to put your life on the line. But we do everything we can to protect each other. And unfortunately, that happened.”
Saraya was able to make a wrestling comeback, joining AEW in September 2022 at Grand Slam and competing for the first time since injury at Full Gear in November of that year.
Discussing the injury on Talk is Jericho, Saraya revealed that the former Sasha Banks was one of the stars who was crying backstage.
Saraya would also reveal that, when she was cleared for an in-ring return, Mone was one of the first people she contacted.
She would go on to say that Mone was “not unsafe. It’s an accident. It happens in wrestling.”
At AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, Mone was victorious in the Winner Takes All match against Stephanie Vaquer, claiming the NJPW Strong Women’s Championship alongside the TBS Championship.
Transcript from Inside the Ropes.
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5 hours ago by Dave Adamson
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