3 reasons why Mercedes Mone should return as a babyface in AEW

After over a year of absolutely dominating her competition in AEW, Mercedes Mone suddenly found herself in a rather difficult situation. Despite losing a few championships from her extensive collection of belts along the way, the former Sasha Banks entered Worlds 2025 with full confidence that she and Athena would win the Babes of Wrath women’s tag team titles. Unfortunately, her night at the PPV ended with the pinfall of Willow Nightingale, who retained the straps on behalf of her team.

Mercedes then called The Babe with The Power to a TBS title fight on Dynamite: New Year’s Smash in an attempt to avenge her defeat at World’s End, but Willow shocked the world by toppling Mone to become the show’s new TBS Champion. Being forced to part with her only All Elite Singles Championship and the humiliation she suffered at the hands of Willow, Kris Statlander, and Harley Cameron during Nightingale’s victory celebration apparently deeply affected Mercedes, as she subsequently announced that she would be leaving AEW for a period of time.

The tone of his promo, revealing his upcoming hiatus, did not suggest that the former “Face of TBS” would return with any sympathy towards his rivals and detractors. However, there are compelling reasons to argue that whenever “Ultimo” Mone returns to All Elite Wrestling, it should be in the form of a babyface or babyface-leaning character. Let’s consider three of these reasons.

#1. Possibilities for an intriguing redemption arc

Wrestling is heavily rooted in character-driven storylines, and as such, the redemption arc enjoys considerable popularity in the industry. A very notable and recent example of All Elite Wrestling executing such an arc is the story of hangman Adam Page as he transformed from a belligerent and malevolent anti-hero willing to hurt friend and foe alike, returning to his nobler heroic self en route to All In: Texas, culminating with his AEW World Title victory over Jon Moxley at the pay-per-view.

Since her debut in the company, Mercedes Mone has played the role of a cocky, arrogant and vain heel, aware of her own heritage and credibility, and willing to do anything to maintain her position. The CEO’s villainy and ingenuity have earned her over a dozen belts by 2025. Unfortunately, she was unable to capture the All Elite Wrestling Women’s World Title and recently lost the ROH Women’s World Title and the RevPro Undisputed British Women’s Title, all before her loss of the TBS Title at Dynamite: New Year’s Smash.

If Mercedes is beaten for several more, if not all, of her independent circuit championships during her AEW hiatus, and is then brought back to the company’s lineup without any of her gold decorating her, Tony Khan could present Mone in a more sympathetic light, lining her up desperate for wins, success and the opportunity to reclaim her spot at the top of her division. This could work exceptionally well if Mercedes is seen as an underdog fighting against major heels like Marina Shafir, Megan Bayne and Thekla.

#2. Mercedes Mone’s AEW Women’s Title Win Would Mean More As A Babyface

Twice last year, Mercedes Mone challenged for the AEW Women’s World Championship. Her first shot at the belt pitted the 2025 Women’s Owen Hart Cup winner against Toni Storm, although The Timeless One managed to retain her strap at All In: Texas. A few months later, at Full Gear 2025, Mercedes challenged for the world title again, this time against Kris Statlander. Unfortunately, the outcome didn’t change, as The Cosmic Killer successfully defended his strap against The Boss.

Mone’s failure to acquire the AEW Women’s Championship, despite winning title after title outside the company, was a key part of her character arc last year. If she were to lose her independent belts during her time away from All Elite Wrestling, she could return to the company focusing solely on the world title. His journey to the belt could center around the evolution of his personality into a babyface figure that the audience can cheer for to finally win the top prize in his division, after months and months of waiting and setbacks.

#3. Potential reunion with rookie Bayley would go better if Mercedes was a babyface

Since their debut on NXT, Mercedes Mone and Bayley’s careers have been closely intertwined for many years. Throughout their shared tenure at the sports entertainment juggernaut, Sasha Banks (then known as Mone) was both a rival and ally of The Role Model. The duo faced each other in several memorable bouts and also won the WWE World Women’s Tag Team Titles twice.

Although Mercedes left the Stamford-based promotion in 2022, Bayley is still signed there; However, its recent creative use has left many of its fans and admirers quite frustrated. Hugger’s contract with WWE would expire in 2026, after which she could follow in the footsteps of several of her former colleagues and jump ship to AEW. It probably wouldn’t take Tony Khan long to give Bayley her TV debut and put her on a show with Mone.

While none of the ideas discussed above can make Mercedes a fan favorite, a Boss N’ Hug reunion could undoubtedly achieve that result. Perhaps Mone could even win the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Titles with Bayley next, a feat she was unable to accomplish last year with Athena.