Mercedes Moné is on a mission to cement her case as the greatest female wrestler of all time, and she’s referencing another GOAT in the process.

Last year’s AEW Big Business at Boston’s TD Garden marked the debut of Moné in All Elite Wrestling (AEW), a six-year-old promotion that revolutionized the wrestling industry and is ranked by Forbes as the third most valuable combat sports organization in the world. Moné was formerly known as WWE’s Sasha Banks, where she was a six-time world champion and became the first Black woman (alongside Bianca Belair) to main-event WrestleMania. Alongside her wrestling achievements, Moné carved a lane for herself in the television world, landing the role of Koska Reeves in the Disney+ Star Wars series, The Mandalorian.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mercedes Moné (@mercedesmone)

She shocked the world when she left WWE in 2022 and traded in her signature “Boss” rings that were synonymous with the Sasha Banks character and became Mercedes Moné, the CEO of women’s wrestling, this time owning all the rights to her name, image, and likeness. The next major step would be embarking on a world tour to kick off the next chapter of her career.

Moné’s choice of AEW as her new home was a bold game-changer for the wrestling industry. She made her intentions clear at Big Business that she chose AEW because it was the only place to start a “global revolution” for women’s wrestling.

How has Mercedes Moné changed the game for women’s wrestling?

A little over a year has passed, and all the risks Moné took have paid off. She became the highest-paid woman in wrestling history and closed 2024 with one of the most acclaimed runs of her decorated career. She successfully defended AEW’s TBS Championship and New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s NJPW Strong Women’s Championship, with four of those defenses landing on Sports Illustrated’s top six women’s matches of 2024 list (including number one).

She carried that momentum into Jan. 5’s Wrestle Dynasty, a cross-promotional supershow in the historic Tokyo Dome featuring top promotions from Japan, Mexico, and the United States. Women wrestling in the Tokyo Dome is already a rarity, but Wrestle Dynasty marked the first time since 1994 that Black women would wrestle in the historic venue.

The Japanese “joshi” women’s wrestling style is widely regarded to be some of the best pure wrestling in the world. Joshi wrestling is hard-hitting with a high emphasis on technique and endurance. It’s rare for foreigners to adapt to such an elevated style of wrestling, but Moné has been rare for her entire career.

Moné faced Mina Shirakawa at Wrestle Dynasty in the Tokyo Dome and successfully captured the RevPro Undisputed British Women’s Championship, adding two new belts to the two she already held. Moné has evolved from a trailblazer to the CEO of women’s wrestling, simultaneously holding major titles in America, Japan, and England. Not to mention, she’s the only woman to wrestle in Madison Square Garden, Wembley Stadium, and the Tokyo Dome. During her dominant reign as “4BeltzMoné,” women wrestlers from all over the world have been platformed in the biggest matches of their careers just by standing across the ring from whom many believe is the most influential female wrestler of the 21st century.

Why are Mercedes Moné and Beyoncé being compared?

In music terms, this diversified level of dominance sounds familiar, doesn’t it? As the most decorated Grammy Award winner of all time, Beyoncé has been awarded in the genres of R&B, rap, pop, dance, electronic, and now country. She made history in February as the first solo Black woman to win the Grammy for Best Country Album. A little over a month before that, she gave a groundbreaking NFL halftime show on Christmas Day in her hometown of Houston, Texas, paying homage to Black rodeo culture and platforming other Black artists making waves in country music like Shaboozey, Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, and Reyna Roberts.

For #AEWDynamite, @MercedesVarnado wore the Festival EDC Custom Made Shorts Set from Katya Roulette (on sale: $300 via her Poshmark – custom made in your preferred size when ordered) pic.twitter.com/UWDazy3XBR
— Women of Wrestling Fashion (@WmenWrstlinFash) August 22, 2024

“Genres are a funny little concept, aren’t they?… In theory, they have a simple definition that’s easy to understand but in practice, well, some may feel confined,” said Linda Martell in the opening words of Cowboy Carter’s “SPAGHETTII.” At the pinnacle of every medium, whether it’s music or pro wrestling, there will be leaders who are not just excellent at their craft but are visionaries who understand that being the “GOAT” requires pushing the envelope and doing things that have never been done before.

Many of Moné’s colleagues have referred to her as the “Beyoncé of wrestling” due to her history of setting wrestling trends and conquering multiple styles and regions of the sport. Another cause for the comparison is her fashion sense. During her time in AEW, Moné has recreated several of Beyoncé’s most iconic looks in the ring, many of which came from 2023’s Renaissance World Tour. In a recent appearance on the Sherri show, she also paid tribute to Beyoncé’s custom Alexander McQueen dress from the live-action premiere of The Lion King.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mercedes Moné (@mercedesmone)

In the coming weeks, Moné will defend all four of her titles both stateside and abroad while Beyoncé kicks off her highly anticipated Cowboy Carter World Tour. Both women actively push back against what is deemed popular or traditional in their fields and instead choose to blaze their own trails that many young wrestlers and artists will follow for years to come. The CEO and the Queen continue to write new chapters of their formidable legacies every day, and despite how much they’ve already accomplished, they’re only just getting started.

Lyric Swinton

Writing since August 2024 · 2 stories contributed