3 mistakes Tony Khan must not make with Mercedes Mone once she returns to AEW

Mercedes Mone won the 2025 Women's Owen Hart Foundation Tournament earlier this year, thus earning a shot at the AEW Women's World Championship at All In : Texas last month. Despite her finest efforts, the erstwhile Sasha Banks was unable to defeat the defending champion, Toni Storm, who sealed the victory for herself after planting her opponent with an avalanche Storm Zero piledriver.

While Mercedes has not returned to All Elite television since, she went back to her winning ways internationally soon after, retaining her RevPro Undisputed British Women's Championship against Safire Reed in England before adding two new belts - the PTW and Bestya Women's Championships - to her collection in Poland by defeating Diana Strong.

Mone is poised to return to AEW Dynamite this coming week. Although no official announcements have yet been made as to what her segment will be about, let us consider three mistakes Tony Khan should avoid making with The CEO after her comeback.

#1: Tony Khan should NOT turn Mercedes Mone babyface

Mercedes Mone made her All Elite Wrestling debut last year as a fan-favorite, although it did not take her long to turn to the dark side. The (former) Boss began displaying more prominently heel characteristics since dethroning Willow Nightingale to become TBS Champion at last year's Double or Nothing. Her feud with Britt Baker heading into All In London, in conjunction with her now-dissolved alliance with Kamille, solidified her status as a villainous figure.

Since then, Mercedes has played the heel role going against numerous AEW babyfaces, including Hikaru Shida, Kris Statlander, Harley Cameron, Jamie Hayter, and more recently Toni Storm, to name a few. Despite her general popularity, Mone consistently elicits massive heat from audiences because of her character work as a cocky, unstoppable performer who keeps winning no matter the promotion or platform. It would therefore be ill-advised for Tony Khan to turn the former WWE superstar babyface when she returns.

A face turn for Mercedes would also not make much narrative sense, as TK could instead opt to explore how the grappler might react to and deal with her AEW All In setback in light of her continued success outside of the company.

#2: Tony Khan should NOT book Mercedes Mone to lose her AEW TBS Title

As alluded to above, Mercedes Mone won the TBS Championship from Willow Nightingale at Double or Nothing 2024 in her very first AEW singles bout. She has now officially held the title for well over 400 days, and has registered successful defenses against competitors from around the globe, including Nyla Rose, Hikaru Shida, Kris Statlander, Emi Sakura, Queen Aminata, Yuka Sakazaki, Harley Cameron, Momo Watanabe, Reyna Isis, Mina Shirakawa and more.

Mone also holds numerous championships across multiple other promotions, and is continually looking to expand her collection. As no exact details are available regarding her Dynamite return this coming Wednesday, it might be speculated that Mercedes could be confronted by a new challenger, which could lead to a new TBS Title rivalry. However, Tony Khan should make sure that Mone does not lose the belt till at least the end of the year, if not till 2026.

This is because the TBS Championship should ideally be the title that Mone drops last, after losing all her other titles. Such an angle would legitimize whoever would end up dethroning Mercedes, and greatly elevate the stakes for their matchup.

#3: Tony Khan should NOT slot Mercedes Mone back into an AEW Women's Title feud with Toni Storm

During the build for their All In : Texas Women's World Championship showdown, Mercedes Mone told Toni Storm that winning the belt and adding it to her existing collection was going to be her story. The Timeless One, in turn, acknowledged The CEO's prowess, but made it clear that regardless of how many titles she holds outside of AEW, she would not be able to wrest away Toni's strap at the Globe Life Field.

Storm kept her word at All In 2025, where she successfully retained her belt against Mercedes. Although The Illustrious One declared afterwards that she was open to a rematch against "Eight Belts" Mone, the latter should not be booked to resume her feud with Toni after she returns this coming week on Dynamite. This could make sure that whenever the two women do cross paths again, their rivalry will feel fresh and exciting, not repetitive.

Edited by Anurag Mukherjee