For the last year, AEW TBS Champion Mercedes Mone has traveled the world to win titles from around the pro wrestling spectrum. Making that the heart of her current gimmick. But do most pro wrestling fans really care about belts they have never heard of?
Mone has worked hard to make her current run in AEW very different from her legendary stint as Sasha Banks in WWE. In many ways, she is the same character, but the biggest contrast is that she rarely loses. Being showcased as one of, if not the greatest, women’s wrestlers on Earth was part of why she departed the company that made her a household name.
Well, AEW boss Tony Khan has been willing to oblige that belief, and the multi-time WWE champion has lost once in a singles match during her year and a half run in the promotion. However, what has helped make her AEW run different is that the company allows talent to compete for independent brands, and Mone has taken advantage of that to win 11 belts outside AEW in America, England, Mexico, Denmark, Austria, Italy, Poland, Scotland, and Canada.
In the early days, it was an impressive feat, but it has now evolved into a goofy element of her character because she isn’t going into elite companies outside All Elite Wrestling to win championships. No, she is winning titles for brands even diehard fans have never even heard of. Which is why I don’t care if she goes and wins 35 belts, and you shouldn’t either.
Do fans really care about the Discovery or BestYa Titles?
Mone’s belt collection from the start has been compared to Ultimo Dragon holding on to 10 different titles during a peak period in his legendary career in the 1990s. Now, the AEW TBS champ has surpassed that amount, so the assumption from some fans will be that what she has done is better. But it’s not even close because many of the straps she currently holds carry such low value in the industry that it might as well be a create-a-title made by a fan.
Currently, Mone holds the TBS title, RevPro Undisputed British title, Owen Hart Foundation Tournament belt, CMLL Women’s Championship, EWA Women’s title, Prime Time Wrestling Women’s belt, BestYa Women’s strap, Discovery Wrestling Scottish Women’s belt, BODYSLAM Women’s title, Interim ROH Women’s TV title, and Winnipeg Pro Wrestling women’s championship.
The TBS title matters — although it is a secondary belt in AEW — as well as the Owen Hart tourney title and CMLL women’s belt. After that, most fans had never heard of the other belts until Mone won them. Does a wrestling fan actually care that she has the BestYa or Winnipeg pro titles, outside the fans of those small promotions?
In comparison, Ulitimo Dragon had the WCW Cruiserweight, IWGP Junior Heavyweight, British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight, NWA Junior Heavyweight, NWA World Welterweight, UWA Junior Light Heavyweight, WAR International Junior Heavyweight, WWA Junior Light Heavyweight, WWF Light Heavyweight, and NWA World Middleweight Championships (Credit: James Romero).
Sure, some of those were low-level belts, but most still were for brands with rich wrestling histories and titles once held by other wrestling greats. Mone’s recent belt collection isn’t a run at history. It’s one of the industry’s smartest money grabs, and nothing more.
Mercedes Mone’s belt collection is built on a transactional relationship
In the end, Mone’s relationship with the promotions outside AEW and ROH that she holds titles for really isn’t about elevating those brands. She isn’t appearing for them weekly or monthly to help create long-term stories and compete in front of their fans.
This is simply a situation of if your check cashes Mercedes Mone will show up in your town and win your belt. And she is completely within her rights to do so. It’s a brilliant way to cash in while her brand is at a strong point. But let’s not confuse this with being some sort of trail-blazing moment in women’s wrestling.
Mone is all about the money. While her assemblage of titles is certainly interesting, it’s really nothing more than a cash-driven gimmick that has become more silly than serious.
