Latest / The Breakfast Club / INTERVIEW: Mercedes Moné On AEW Grand Slam, Being AEW Highest Paid Champion, Celebrity Wrestling + More

Transcript

INTERVIEW: Mercedes Moné On AEW Grand Slam, Being AEW Highest Paid Champion, Celebrity Wrestling + More · The Breakfast Club

0:00
Speaker 1: Wake that ass up in the morning. The Breakfast Club Morning.
0:05
Speaker 1: Everybody is the DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne, thea God.
0:09
Speaker 1: We are to Breakfast Club. Jess Hilarius's on maternity leave,
0:12
Speaker 1: so we have Laura La Roza filling in and we
0:14
Speaker 1: got a special guest in the building. Ladies and gentlemen,
0:17
Speaker 1: the c Eat Old Mercedes Monette.
0:19
Speaker 2: Welcome Champ.
0:20
Speaker 3: Thanks guys, thanks for having men. How you feeling I'm
0:23
Speaker 3: feeling good on this beautiful New York morning.
0:26
Speaker 1: There you go.
0:26
Speaker 3: It was in a long, long traffic this morning, but
0:29
Speaker 3: it's good. I'm happy to be here. Yeah that's right, Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:33
Speaker 1: I want to start from the beginning for people that
0:35
Speaker 1: don't know who you are. You are a huge wrestler,
0:38
Speaker 1: and how did you get into the wrestling game? What
0:39
Speaker 1: made you say I want to do that?
0:41
Speaker 3: Is when I was ten years old, I started watching
0:44
Speaker 3: wrestling on TV and there was like nothing on TV.
0:47
Speaker 3: Scrolling through the channels and then w W is on.
0:50
Speaker 3: I was like, WHOA, what is this? This is interesting.
0:52
Speaker 3: My mom came in the room, She's like, turn this off.
0:55
Speaker 3: Rustling's the devil wrestling so bad. I went to my
0:57
Speaker 3: brother's room. The next year is the devil. It was
1:00
Speaker 3: so bad. She's very religious. And then I went to
1:04
Speaker 3: my brother's room, finished watching wrestling, and just instantly a
1:07
Speaker 3: light just came into muscle. Is like, this is going
1:09
Speaker 3: to be your sole calling, This is gonna be your
1:11
Speaker 3: sole purpose. And since I was ten years old, so
1:14
Speaker 3: now here I am at thirty two. Every single day
1:16
Speaker 3: was just dreaming about wrestling and being a professional wrestler,
1:19
Speaker 3: and now here I am the greatest women's wrestler of
1:22
Speaker 3: all time.
1:22
Speaker 2: Did your brother used to practice his moves on you? No?
1:25
Speaker 3: No, no. My brother has special needs, so you couldn't
1:28
Speaker 3: have done that.
1:28
Speaker 2: Now, okay, okay, okay, okay.
1:31
Speaker 1: You originally were born in California. Yeah, and then you
1:33
Speaker 1: moved to Boston. Now why did y'all move to Boston?
1:36
Speaker 1: Was it for your brother?
1:37
Speaker 3: It was for my brother. My brother has special needs,
1:39
Speaker 3: and we moved around a lot just to find and
1:41
Speaker 3: write doctors and the right schools for him. And finally
1:44
Speaker 3: my mom got a job out in Boston.
1:46
Speaker 1: So here's the Boston accident.
1:48
Speaker 3: We moved out there. I started training an MMA when
1:51
Speaker 3: I was sixteen years old, because there's no professional wrestling
1:54
Speaker 3: school that would train me. At the time he had
1:57
Speaker 3: I was trying to train for real, to get me
1:59
Speaker 3: ready for wrestling. Trained out in Massachusetts, t us and
2:03
Speaker 3: then I turned eighteen during a for wrestling school, and
2:05
Speaker 3: then two years later I got signed by w B.
2:07
Speaker 4: How did your mom feel when you started the training?
2:10
Speaker 3: My mom was like, oh God, why now? But once
2:14
Speaker 3: I got signed, she became my biggest fan. She drove
2:17
Speaker 3: me to all my wrestling shows and to wrestling training,
2:20
Speaker 3: so you know, deep down she supported me. She she
2:22
Speaker 3: loved it. She loved that I had this dream of
2:24
Speaker 3: legit since I was ten. Like this, I told my mom,
2:27
Speaker 3: this is what I was going to do. This is
2:28
Speaker 3: my goal, this is my dream, and I gotta go
2:30
Speaker 3: do it. But once I really made it, that's when
2:32
Speaker 3: she's like my biggest fan.
2:33
Speaker 2: Pardon my ignorance, I didn't know it was pro wrestling schools.
2:36
Speaker 2: It's like with rick fla university or something, university.
2:39
Speaker 3: All over the world, all everywhere for actual flight for
2:43
Speaker 3: this type of rest, to be the best, you gotta
2:45
Speaker 3: train with the best. I traveled all over the world
2:47
Speaker 3: to be the best.
2:48
Speaker 4: Is it like you get belts there, you get degrees?
2:50
Speaker 4: Like what do you know.
2:51
Speaker 3: You don't you get belts in the big leagues. I'm
2:54
Speaker 3: with aw, I'm a two time champion. No, you just
2:58
Speaker 3: begin training. You learn how to bump, how to hit
3:01
Speaker 3: the ropes, how to be a performer, how to cut promos.
3:04
Speaker 3: There's like I said, there's wrestling schools all over the world.
3:06
Speaker 3: They're in New York, They're in Boston, They're in England,
3:09
Speaker 3: they're in Australia. Wrestling is global.
3:12
Speaker 2: Do these organizations go to these schools to find town?
3:15
Speaker 3: They do? They got them out. They either scot them
3:17
Speaker 3: out or us as wrestlers, we have to book ourselves.
3:21
Speaker 3: We have to go out and make a name for
3:22
Speaker 3: ourselves and be seen. I remember riding to w every
3:26
Speaker 3: single week anytime they were in town for Boston. I like,
3:28
Speaker 3: can I be Can I please be an extra? Can
3:30
Speaker 3: I be an extra work? Can I get a look
3:31
Speaker 3: at Then they looked at me, and then they sent
3:34
Speaker 3: me down to Florida for a week tryout, and then
3:36
Speaker 3: that's when I got signed full time.
3:38
Speaker 1: Congrats what was your break?
3:39
Speaker 2: What was your big break? Oh? Actually got you into wrestling.
3:43
Speaker 3: I feel like my biggest break was in twenty fifteen,
3:47
Speaker 3: myself in this wrestler named Bailey. We had the greatest
3:50
Speaker 3: women's match of all time, Sports illustrators, we had the
3:54
Speaker 3: greatest one's match of all time, and that's really changed
3:56
Speaker 3: the landscape of women's wrestling. After that match, I felt
3:59
Speaker 3: like a lot of people started taking it seriously and
4:02
Speaker 3: really letting people know that women can do it just
4:04
Speaker 3: like the men and more. And because me and Bailey
4:07
Speaker 3: had that match and the standing ovation and the crowd
4:09
Speaker 3: reaction the next pay per view, me and her got
4:12
Speaker 3: to main event that pay per view special because we
4:14
Speaker 3: did so good.
4:15
Speaker 4: Wow.
4:15
Speaker 1: And how many injuries did you receive, you know, throughout
4:18
Speaker 1: this whole process? And how not too many?
4:21
Speaker 3: I've had about five broken noses, my ribs broken, Jesus
4:26
Speaker 3: just located pelvis.
4:27
Speaker 1: Said, not too many, not too many.
4:30
Speaker 3: And last year I broke my heel which took me
4:32
Speaker 3: out for a whole year.
4:34
Speaker 2: Yeah. How long did you think before you feel like
4:36
Speaker 2: you made it in wrestling?
4:37
Speaker 3: Mm hmmm, I don't know. Maybe maybe No, I feel
4:44
Speaker 3: like I made it. Like I said, twenty fifteen was
4:47
Speaker 3: like that start of that buzz for women's wrestling, and
4:50
Speaker 3: then really twenty twenty one where I main invented WrestleMania.
4:55
Speaker 3: Being the first everal black women to main event a WrestleMania.
4:58
Speaker 3: That's when I really felt like I did something. I
5:00
Speaker 3: made it. I want to sp off that match. That's
5:03
Speaker 3: another match where fans come to me and be like,
5:05
Speaker 3: because of that match, my little girl wants to be
5:07
Speaker 3: a wrestler, or I can bring my my kids to wrestling,
5:09
Speaker 3: or I enjoy all of this because of your matches.
5:12
Speaker 3: You make me feel a certain type of way, so
5:14
Speaker 3: I feel like maybe really in twenty twenty, twenty twenty
5:16
Speaker 3: one is when I really felt like I made it,
5:18
Speaker 3: or like I submitted my legacy and wrestling.
5:21
Speaker 1: You take wrestling with your spouse to a whole another level,
5:23
Speaker 1: Like you now you wrestle with your girl, or you
5:25
Speaker 1: have fun. You take that to now. You can't play
5:28
Speaker 1: with you.
5:28
Speaker 3: Don't play with me. Don't play with me. I'll slam
5:30
Speaker 3: you down. I will put you in a bank statement.
5:32
Speaker 3: I'll make you tap out if you mess with me.
5:33
Speaker 1: Could you're playing with your girl and all of a
5:35
Speaker 1: sudden she got you in the Legit like, all right,
5:38
Speaker 1: tap out?
5:39
Speaker 3: I had to do that in real life, for real,
5:40
Speaker 3: to one of your guys, not to any of my
5:42
Speaker 3: guys a couple of fans when they want to come
5:44
Speaker 3: a little too close. Yeah, you got security.
5:46
Speaker 2: I do have security.
5:46
Speaker 3: I just got security, so yes.
5:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, and you don't need security, you know,
5:51
Speaker 2: to protect you from people, more so in some cases
5:54
Speaker 2: to protect people from you.
5:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, that exactly that.
5:57
Speaker 4: Do guys like approach you like wanting you to do
6:00
Speaker 4: wrestle moves.
6:01
Speaker 3: Today because they just want to be really close and snug.
6:09
Speaker 3: But you gotta give them me a space.
6:12
Speaker 1: You gotta be like.
6:12
Speaker 3: Push back, hould the championship. I won't stand a little
6:15
Speaker 3: a little far apart for our picture.
6:17
Speaker 2: What do you think would have been your plan B
6:18
Speaker 2: if you didn't make it as a wrestler.
6:21
Speaker 3: That's hard. I never really had a plan B. Before
6:24
Speaker 3: I was a wrestler, I was an order taker at
6:26
Speaker 3: a restaurant. I was a shoes associate. So I feel
6:30
Speaker 3: like maybe just a manager at a hotel, Like I
6:32
Speaker 3: just only saw wrestling for me. That was my A, B, C, D, E,
6:36
Speaker 3: F G, my only goal, my only desire. So I
6:40
Speaker 3: think I would only be a professional wrestler in some
6:42
Speaker 3: type of way, you know, or in the wrestling industry.
6:45
Speaker 2: Did you ever feel like giving up. Did you always
6:46
Speaker 2: have like the fools part of your family. Was there
6:48
Speaker 2: anybody saying, hey, won't you go learn a trade?
6:51
Speaker 3: There's only been maybe twice in my career. I'm like,
6:55
Speaker 3: I don't think I can do this anymore. Just the pressure,
6:58
Speaker 3: the politics, let alone, just the politics and being a
7:02
Speaker 3: woman in the sport. It's it's a male dominated sport
7:05
Speaker 3: and a woman of color. Nonetheless, there was a couple
7:08
Speaker 3: times where I had to look deep down inside and
7:09
Speaker 3: be like, do I really want to do this? Do
7:11
Speaker 3: I really want to go through this pain every single day?
7:14
Speaker 3: It's not just mental pain, it's physical pain that we're
7:16
Speaker 3: putting our body through every single week with the travel
7:19
Speaker 3: and then the bumping getting on the cars driving to
7:22
Speaker 3: the next towns. But then I just look back into
7:25
Speaker 3: my so and being like, what is your sole purpose?
7:26
Speaker 3: What makes you smile? What makes your heart you know, flutter,
7:29
Speaker 3: what makes you go chase your goals? And it's always
7:32
Speaker 3: been professional wrestling.
7:33
Speaker 4: What you said you worked at a shoe store.
7:35
Speaker 3: I did what story? Did you work with Baker's Fake
7:37
Speaker 3: Bakers shoe store?
7:38
Speaker 2: Yeah?
7:39
Speaker 5: So I see like your photos and your photo shoots,
7:41
Speaker 5: the stuff that you do for monameg. It's like very
7:44
Speaker 5: like fashion artsy. It so incorporating your fashion sense and
7:48
Speaker 5: then like what you like about art and all that
7:50
Speaker 5: stuff into your brain.
7:50
Speaker 4: When did that become a thing? When did you know
7:52
Speaker 4: you needed to do.
7:53
Speaker 3: That right away? I mean, watching wrestling is larger than life.
7:56
Speaker 3: You had to watch like the macho man. You had
7:58
Speaker 3: the bright colors, the glasses, the hair. I knew when
8:01
Speaker 3: I was going to be a professional wrestler, I wanted
8:02
Speaker 3: to be larger than life because I was such a
8:04
Speaker 3: shy girl growing up. And then when I got signed,
8:07
Speaker 3: I dyed my hair, I got the nails, I got
8:10
Speaker 3: the necklace, I got the glasses, and then really I
8:12
Speaker 3: started to tap into myself and being like, Okay, it's
8:15
Speaker 3: okay to be beautiful and feel that way and tap
8:17
Speaker 3: into your femininity. And I love fashion and art and
8:21
Speaker 3: getting to design your own wrestling gears and but wear
8:24
Speaker 3: that out every lake. It's the funnest part of wrestling.
8:26
Speaker 3: I love being a girl, and I love coming up
8:28
Speaker 3: with my costumes, and I feel like I have the
8:30
Speaker 3: best costumes in the game.
8:32
Speaker 1: Is it true that Snoop is a relative of yos He's.
8:34
Speaker 3: My first cousin yes, Snoop is your first cousin.
8:36
Speaker 1: When did you find ou out? Did you always know
8:38
Speaker 1: growing up?
8:38
Speaker 3: I didn't find out until I was maybe like ten
8:40
Speaker 3: years old, and my Dad's like, Snoops com into Iowa,
8:44
Speaker 3: where I lived at the time. He was like, so
8:45
Speaker 3: let's go see him. Saw him, and I told everybody
8:48
Speaker 3: at school like, Snoop, Dog's my cousin, and everyone's like, no,
8:50
Speaker 3: he's not, No, he's not. Went to the concert and
8:52
Speaker 3: Snoop gave me like a whole box of shirts to
8:55
Speaker 3: give to everybody at the school the next day, and
8:56
Speaker 3: I felt like the coolest kid in class. And then
8:58
Speaker 3: when I was sixteen, he was hosting WrestleMania and I
9:02
Speaker 3: messaged my dad. I'm like, can you please ask Snoop
9:04
Speaker 3: to bring me to WrestleMania, please please please? You brought
9:06
Speaker 3: me to wrestle Mania, And I feel like just from
9:08
Speaker 3: that end, our bond came from wrestling. Like we just
9:11
Speaker 3: talked about wrestling. We love wrestling, and still to this
9:14
Speaker 3: day is one of my biggest fans and supporters.
9:16
Speaker 2: First cousin, I mean, one of your parents is my dad.
9:19
Speaker 3: Is his uncle? Yes? Oh wow uncle Ria wow wow. Yes.
9:24
Speaker 1: Of course, after a match. I'm hoping that before.
9:29
Speaker 3: After a match. Yes, it's for my inflammation and inspiration medicinal.
9:33
Speaker 1: Yeah.
9:33
Speaker 2: Yeah. Your name used to be Sasha Banks. Yes, and
9:35
Speaker 2: do you change it? The mastades which is your real name?
9:37
Speaker 2: Why do the name change that? Sasha Banks was such a
9:39
Speaker 2: big entity, big brand.
9:41
Speaker 3: It was because I was with WWE and they own
9:44
Speaker 3: that ip Sasha Banks, and it was time for me
9:47
Speaker 3: to grow and to be more and to be more
9:51
Speaker 3: like I legit. Wanted to find myself and it's so
9:54
Speaker 3: hard to be a different identity and a different name
9:56
Speaker 3: for ten years, having someone call you by a different
9:59
Speaker 3: name and pretending for you to be this character that
10:02
Speaker 3: they want you to be. So for me, I wanted
10:05
Speaker 3: more for women's wrestling. I wanted more for myself. And
10:07
Speaker 3: I said, where can I do that? How can I
10:09
Speaker 3: do that? And that was jumping the ship and going
10:11
Speaker 3: to aew.
10:12
Speaker 2: Well, where did the Sasha Banks name come from?
10:14
Speaker 3: It came from w BY. They tell everybody when you
10:17
Speaker 3: get signed to give up like a list of names,
10:19
Speaker 3: and I gave them Sasha with the different last names
10:22
Speaker 3: and Banks are a different first name, and they were like,
10:24
Speaker 3: do you know any name Sasha Banks? Here's your name.
10:26
Speaker 5: Was it never an option for you to be like,
10:28
Speaker 5: I want to own the IP of Sasha Banks or
10:29
Speaker 5: that's just how it goes.
10:30
Speaker 3: Never the option now with that company, no, no, no.
10:33
Speaker 3: But with AW now I own my name and I
10:36
Speaker 3: own my brand and that's the it's the best it's
10:38
Speaker 3: ever been for myself in my career. It's the best.
10:40
Speaker 2: You ever feel like you was losing yourself in the
10:43
Speaker 2: characterture of Sasha.
10:44
Speaker 3: Banks, absolutely, because you have to play her twenty four
10:48
Speaker 3: to seven. Being a wrestler is a role playing online,
10:51
Speaker 3: it's role playing offline. It's once you're off the flight,
10:54
Speaker 3: you gotta be on. Because once I put on that wig,
10:57
Speaker 3: I'm on, I'm Sasha Banks, and it's just like I'm
10:59
Speaker 3: not I'm not I'm not her, I'm Mercedes, a Mercedes
11:03
Speaker 3: money and I really felt like it was time to
11:06
Speaker 3: be that and to own that brand.
11:07
Speaker 2: So what's the difference between you think Mercedes Mornee and
11:10
Speaker 2: Sasha Banks.
11:11
Speaker 3: Well, Sasha was a legit boss and now Mercedes she
11:14
Speaker 3: love it up. She is the CEO of her own life.
11:17
Speaker 3: She is the CEO of the Woman's Division, and she
11:20
Speaker 3: is the best of the game. She won't let anybody
11:21
Speaker 3: tell her now, and with Sasha Banks, I was told
11:25
Speaker 3: what to do, I was told what to say, I
11:26
Speaker 3: was told where to be, And now really I get
11:29
Speaker 3: to be the CEO of my own life and let
11:30
Speaker 3: people know where I want to be.
11:32
Speaker 2: You know why, I know that you're a person who's
11:34
Speaker 2: willing to bet on theyself. You don't see people who
11:36
Speaker 2: leave the WWE no to go to a company like AW,
11:41
Speaker 2: so I would. I would think it's like the other
11:43
Speaker 2: way around, like ww's like the top of the top.
11:46
Speaker 3: Right, it's usually how it used to be, but now
11:49
Speaker 3: it's not. The wrestlings become bigger than ever. And now
11:53
Speaker 3: that there's a second brand like this like AW, who's
11:56
Speaker 3: here to disrupt this industry, disrupt the business. It's been amazing.
12:00
Speaker 3: Next week we're going to be celebrating five years of
12:03
Speaker 3: ae W. We're beating out w CW and fans online
12:08
Speaker 3: are getting mad about that every single day. But it's
12:09
Speaker 3: the best it's ever been, and it's the most talked
12:12
Speaker 3: about that professional wrestling has ever been talked about in
12:14
Speaker 3: this industry of the world. So it's the best time
12:17
Speaker 3: to be a fan and to be a professional wrestler.
12:19
Speaker 3: In the sport I loved for many different reasons. A
12:24
Speaker 3: lot of personal stuff happened with myself and the chairman
12:28
Speaker 3: at the time, and I didn't like how he talked
12:31
Speaker 3: to me and how I was, you know, just talked
12:34
Speaker 3: down to and I was like, you know it, it's
12:36
Speaker 3: time to legit, listen to your soul in your heart.
12:38
Speaker 3: There was a light that came to me one day
12:40
Speaker 3: and I just left WWE and my guys told me,
12:44
Speaker 3: and I'm guided to being a two time champion at
12:46
Speaker 3: aw So.
12:47
Speaker 2: You see somebody like Vince McMahon, he's got the sexual
12:51
Speaker 2: abuse suit. If I'm not.
12:52
Speaker 3: Mistaken, I'm not the lawyer. I don't know someone like that.
12:57
Speaker 3: He has to talk too crazy, Yeah, a little crazy.
12:59
Speaker 3: That day he talk to me a little crazy, yeah.
13:02
Speaker 2: And that was enough to be like, I'm up.
13:04
Speaker 3: It was enough for my source of light to come
13:07
Speaker 3: into my body and be like, you know what if
13:09
Speaker 3: you stay that's not okay. This is for the rest
13:13
Speaker 3: of your life. And what are you going to teach
13:15
Speaker 3: your kids? What are you going to teach just people?
13:18
Speaker 3: If you're feeling like this from words after being here
13:21
Speaker 3: for ten years, you got to stand up for yourself.
13:24
Speaker 3: And that's what I did. There's a light, the same
13:26
Speaker 3: light that came to me when I was ten years old,
13:28
Speaker 3: being like, this is your sole purpose, this is what
13:30
Speaker 3: you're going to do. Another light came to me and
13:32
Speaker 3: being like, you gotta walk away and do something better
13:34
Speaker 3: for yourself.
13:35
Speaker 1: So there was no protection for you guys with wrestlers,
13:37
Speaker 1: especially for female wrestlers, at all.
13:39
Speaker 3: No, no, but we're changing that every day. I'm changing
13:42
Speaker 3: that every day for a women's wrestling. Yeah.
13:44
Speaker 1: So there's no way there was no human resources.
13:46
Speaker 3: We went to everybody, and.
13:49
Speaker 2: No where'd y'all go after ww You went to Japan.
13:52
Speaker 3: I went to Japan and I won IWGP Women's Championship.
13:56
Speaker 3: Trinity went to a TNA and became the Knockout Champion,
14:00
Speaker 3: and here I am as the new Japan Strong Women's Champion.
14:04
Speaker 3: I've done a lot of things just leaving WDB, I
14:07
Speaker 3: I walked the runways, I did a movie. I just
14:10
Speaker 3: really just tapped in finding out who Mercedes really is
14:14
Speaker 3: because I was Sasha for so long.
14:16
Speaker 4: Are you gonna get to do whatever that collab was
14:18
Speaker 4: supposed to be with Megda Sallion?
14:20
Speaker 3: Not right now? Not unfortunately?
14:22
Speaker 5: No, What was that supposed to be because I didn't.
14:25
Speaker 3: Find either a tag team match or wrestling match some something.
14:28
Speaker 1: She's wrestling with you.
14:30
Speaker 3: I would like someone either wrestling with me or rustle
14:32
Speaker 3: against me. But there were there was talks of doing
14:34
Speaker 3: something fun with her. But now she's doing the opening
14:37
Speaker 3: theme song for SmackDown, which is awesome.
14:40
Speaker 5: But is it because like you can't because you were
14:43
Speaker 5: with WWE before now you're not, or is it just
14:45
Speaker 5: like right now brand wise, you just don't want to
14:47
Speaker 5: be attached because she's attached.
14:48
Speaker 3: Just brand wise. She did a song with wd B
14:51
Speaker 3: and I'm with the aw so I just think we
14:53
Speaker 3: can't do anything together.
14:54
Speaker 4: But are y'all still home homegirls? Y'all still talking?
14:56
Speaker 3: She's not my best friend or anything, but she wants
14:58
Speaker 3: to me my homegirl. Absolutely a couple of times when
15:01
Speaker 3: she's really awesome.
15:02
Speaker 2: You just had your CEO had on when I read I.
15:04
Speaker 3: Was trying to get her on the board. That's exactly right.
15:07
Speaker 2: It didn't sexy red.
15:09
Speaker 3: She does something with a not a w n XTX yeah,
15:14
Speaker 3: which is part of w BOW.
15:16
Speaker 4: Wrestling much different.
15:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, Jesus, who else would you want to who else
15:20
Speaker 1: would you want to wrestle? In the celebrity world, because
15:22
Speaker 1: I love when I seen Floyd do what. I love
15:24
Speaker 1: when I see Shack do it. Who else was it
15:26
Speaker 1: was at all? Did it too as well? That did
15:29
Speaker 1: a great job. Who else would you want to wrestle?
15:31
Speaker 3: If if possible, Russell, I would love my tag team
15:36
Speaker 3: partner to be Nicki Minaj because I love her. And
15:40
Speaker 3: who would I want to wrestle? Hmm, I'm gonna have
15:46
Speaker 3: to wrestle like a Kim Kardashian or even just a
15:49
Speaker 3: Beyonce to see if she can even throw it down.
15:51
Speaker 4: Oh my god, you wrestle Beyonce. Girl. You can't wrestle Beyonce.
15:57
Speaker 4: You take her down the wrong way.
15:58
Speaker 2: I think your care you'd have to take a dive,
16:00
Speaker 2: but you have to let her beat you up.
16:02
Speaker 3: I would, I would let her do that. Yeah, yeah,
16:04
Speaker 3: I would let her take the championship.
16:05
Speaker 1: You know, the rest of it is not fake, but
16:08
Speaker 1: it is predetermined, predetermined, So how do y'all figure out?
16:11
Speaker 1: Like do you know if you're going to lose a
16:13
Speaker 1: win the next match or do you just walk into
16:14
Speaker 1: a room and they'd be like, you're losing today like.
16:16
Speaker 3: Something like that. Usually when we get to the show,
16:20
Speaker 3: we have a card and our agent or a coach
16:22
Speaker 3: will be like, well, today this match is going to
16:24
Speaker 3: be this, and Mercedes is over and this is how
16:26
Speaker 3: we want her to win. Last year, when I was
16:29
Speaker 3: supposed to win this this new Japan Strong Woman's Championship,
16:32
Speaker 3: I got injured and I had to change the match
16:34
Speaker 3: on the fly and make the other girl win. So
16:36
Speaker 3: when I say it's predetermined, you really don't know what's
16:38
Speaker 3: going to happen. We can get injured, we can get
16:40
Speaker 3: concussed and maybe not kick out, Maybe my opponent won't
16:43
Speaker 3: remember the move and it will be like what's next.
16:46
Speaker 3: So yeah, it's predetermined, but it's it's so real you
16:49
Speaker 3: never know what's going to happen in that ring.
16:50
Speaker 1: How often does do wrestler's go roll with like, you
16:52
Speaker 1: know what, I'm not losing.
16:53
Speaker 3: All the time? I feel like, really, if it's not
16:56
Speaker 3: if they're not mad about losing, they're mad about they're
16:59
Speaker 3: not getting that many moves into the match, or they
17:02
Speaker 3: want to look the best out of the match, they
17:04
Speaker 3: want to do extra stuff. I wrestled people like that
17:07
Speaker 3: who've done a little extra to me that we haven't
17:09
Speaker 3: talked about them, Just like is.
17:10
Speaker 1: There fines for that though, Like I'm supposed to win,
17:12
Speaker 1: I get body slam three times, but I.
17:15
Speaker 3: Wish there's more fines. But you just have to give
17:17
Speaker 3: them a seat in the ring, not them back.
17:21
Speaker 1: That's crazy.
17:22
Speaker 2: Is ae w scream It's gonna be screaming on HBO X.
17:25
Speaker 3: I don't know. There's rumors of that. There's definitely rumors
17:29
Speaker 3: of US joining U discovering HBO Max, which would be huge,
17:33
Speaker 3: but I'm not sure if that deal is done yet,
17:35
Speaker 3: but I hope so.
17:36
Speaker 2: For for wrestling, how do you feel about that as
17:38
Speaker 2: opposed to being on TBS and tn T, Because you know,
17:41
Speaker 2: growing up, I grew up in South Carolina, so that's
17:43
Speaker 2: all I used to watch is TVs and tn T.
17:45
Speaker 3: Oh, It's still very much gonna be on TBS and
17:47
Speaker 3: t n T every single week. I'm the TBS champion
17:50
Speaker 3: for a reason, I'm the face of TBS.
17:52
Speaker 2: It's all the same companies.
17:54
Speaker 3: I'm still going to be on TBS, so it's not
17:56
Speaker 3: going anywhere. Going to be on t n T and
17:57
Speaker 3: TBS for a very long time.
17:59
Speaker 2: What do you feel about row going from three hours
18:01
Speaker 2: to two hours?
18:02
Speaker 3: I think I think that sucks for the wrestlers. Just
18:07
Speaker 3: if you lose a whole hour, that's a whole opportunity
18:09
Speaker 3: of performing in front of a live audience and in
18:12
Speaker 3: front of millions watching at home. But I think just
18:14
Speaker 3: the move to Netflix is so huge for them that
18:16
Speaker 3: they're going to gain so much more opportunities in so
18:18
Speaker 3: many different other ways.
18:19
Speaker 2: So just having that one less hour really make a
18:22
Speaker 2: difference for ar wrestling.
18:24
Speaker 3: Would you think adding an hour to your your show
18:26
Speaker 3: would add or take away?
18:29
Speaker 4: You'd be tired?
18:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, we did it during COVID.
18:35
Speaker 3: I think for performers it's it's great, just like I said,
18:38
Speaker 3: to give more opportunity, and especially for women as well,
18:41
Speaker 3: Like we're only given five to eight minutes, so it's
18:44
Speaker 3: like we need that extra hour, we need that time
18:47
Speaker 3: tell a story. Yeah.
18:48
Speaker 5: I read that you were the highest paid woman in
18:51
Speaker 5: pro wrestling, correct.
18:52
Speaker 3: I hope so, I think I would like to think.
18:55
Speaker 2: So.
18:55
Speaker 3: I don't know other people's bank accounts, but I like
18:58
Speaker 3: that title.
18:58
Speaker 5: Do you feel like your pay is based on you're
19:00
Speaker 5: valuing the company or do you feel like you should
19:01
Speaker 5: be making more money? Like you feel like there should
19:03
Speaker 5: be more money allotted to you and just other women.
19:05
Speaker 3: But I definitely want to make more money.
19:08
Speaker 5: Absolutely, I guess I'm asking you, do you think you're
19:10
Speaker 5: getting what you deserve right now?
19:11
Speaker 3: I am? I am, And it's so I don't even
19:15
Speaker 3: want to say it's crazy. It's just it's beautifully deserved
19:18
Speaker 3: and earned and it's something that I worked so hard
19:20
Speaker 3: for for such a long time. Yeah, and it's something
19:22
Speaker 3: that I want women to work for. It's like I
19:25
Speaker 3: finally got something that as women were like, no, you
19:29
Speaker 3: can't even se those numbers. You can't even talk about
19:31
Speaker 3: those numbers. You can't even walk into the room and
19:33
Speaker 3: even ask for a raise or to ask for a
19:35
Speaker 3: bonus or anything. So to get what I feel like
19:38
Speaker 3: I deserve. Plus, I feel like I deserve so much
19:40
Speaker 3: more and I'm going to get that. It's so amazing.
19:43
Speaker 3: I just give. I think that gives people a chance
19:46
Speaker 3: to dream more that they can make more too, if
19:48
Speaker 3: they put in the hard work.
19:50
Speaker 2: What do you think what are some ways that AW
19:53
Speaker 2: can close the gap with WWE. I was looking at
19:56
Speaker 2: Forbes and they had these five ways that A you
20:00
Speaker 2: can close the gap with WWE. What do you think?
20:02
Speaker 3: Oh, I don't know what it means to close the gap.
20:04
Speaker 3: I feel like it's always going to be a weird competition.
20:08
Speaker 3: But it's just aw's only been around for five years.
20:13
Speaker 3: W has been around for thirty plus. I don't know
20:16
Speaker 3: what kind of gap you can close with that such
20:18
Speaker 3: a big gap of who's been around for so long.
20:20
Speaker 3: I think just AW just has to keep on being
20:22
Speaker 3: its own brand and being AW and being we're the
20:25
Speaker 3: best wrestle. That's our slogan, and that's where, legit, the
20:28
Speaker 3: greatest wrestlers are signed there. The best performers are signed there,
20:32
Speaker 3: and you get to see that every week on TBS
20:34
Speaker 3: and TNT. We have the greatest performers from all over
20:37
Speaker 3: the world, and I think that's just what makes us different.
20:41
Speaker 3: I don't think there's any gap that we have to close.
20:43
Speaker 3: I think we just have to keep on standing out
20:44
Speaker 3: and being our own brand.
20:45
Speaker 2: As a Fortune Force said, embrace being an underdog and
20:48
Speaker 2: an alternative to WWE sign top talents who will make
20:53
Speaker 2: a difference. There you go balanced the incredible in ring
20:56
Speaker 2: action with quality storylines, dam utilize the talented a e
21:00
Speaker 2: W roster to the fullest, and continue spotlighting the woman's division.
21:05
Speaker 3: They're doing that. They're doing that every single day, So I.
21:09
Speaker 1: Was a question. I know you are the highest paid
21:11
Speaker 1: woman in for wrestling. Right if me and Lauren want
21:14
Speaker 1: to give you just a couple of dollars uh to
21:16
Speaker 1: h Charlemagne to knock him out? How much would you
21:19
Speaker 1: charge us?
21:20
Speaker 3: Oh?
21:22
Speaker 4: You won't do the community write offs?
21:24
Speaker 3: I don't can I just got a bag each? What
21:27
Speaker 3: do you what do you want me to do him?
21:28
Speaker 3: Tap him out?
21:30
Speaker 4: I want him to feel it for like at least
21:31
Speaker 4: a month. After a month, that's easy to talk.
21:35
Speaker 3: Why do you guys not like him? What are you doing?
21:39
Speaker 4: Fling in the storyline all the song?
21:40
Speaker 2: You should you should recommend it to somebody in this room.
21:43
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna say who.
21:45
Speaker 3: It's not you.
21:50
Speaker 4: And that's why he's angry. You know how men are
21:53
Speaker 4: about letting their hair a couple of moves.
21:55
Speaker 3: You don't have topen me for that.
21:57
Speaker 4: Thank you because you felt it. You see what I'd
21:59
Speaker 4: be going.
21:59
Speaker 3: I feel that us.
22:01
Speaker 1: Well, we appreciate you for joining us. Tonight eight pm
22:04
Speaker 1: on TBS, Grand Slam Dynamite and then Grand Slam Collision
22:07
Speaker 1: comes on Saturday eight pm on TNT. What's the difference
22:10
Speaker 1: between Dynamite and collision?
22:12
Speaker 3: Dynamite is every Wednesday on TBS and Collision is every
22:15
Speaker 3: Saturday on TNT.
22:17
Speaker 1: How often do you wrestle? Do you often you wrestle
22:20
Speaker 1: every week?
22:20
Speaker 3: I pretty much defend my championship every month. I don't
22:23
Speaker 3: wrestle every week. I gotta look cute. It's different here
22:25
Speaker 3: in AW. I gotta sit next to my chairman, my EVPs,
22:29
Speaker 3: and I gotta look beautiful. I gotta defend these championships
22:31
Speaker 3: at the pay per views. But I'm always looking good
22:34
Speaker 3: on Dynamite every Wednesday because I am the face of TVs.
22:36
Speaker 2: Would you ever go back to WW if they offered
22:38
Speaker 2: you like the right bag and they said, hey, we're
22:40
Speaker 2: gonna give you back your We're gonna let you have
22:42
Speaker 2: your real name. We'll give you back the rights to
22:44
Speaker 2: Sasha Banks.
22:46
Speaker 3: After the way that AAW has been treating me, I
22:51
Speaker 3: don't know. I don't think. So I feel like I
22:54
Speaker 3: have the best relationship with AW right now, and it's legit.
22:57
Speaker 3: I'm living my dreams and it's the best place ever
23:00
Speaker 3: been mentally and physically, and to be able to have
23:03
Speaker 3: new dreams after being in the industry for fourteen years,
23:07
Speaker 3: it's the best feeling in the world. So AW is
23:09
Speaker 3: my home right now?
23:11
Speaker 1: And how how is dating life for you? How how
23:13
Speaker 1: do do men approach you? Any nervous? Are scared?
23:17
Speaker 3: Right now? I'm not dating because I'm so busy, and yeah,
23:20
Speaker 3: I would assume so they're nervous and scared.
23:22
Speaker 4: Yeah you like you wouldn't do dating apps?
23:26
Speaker 3: No, no way?
23:26
Speaker 4: How do you if you were to date? How do
23:28
Speaker 4: you meet people?
23:29
Speaker 2: Because I don't know.
23:32
Speaker 4: I am not on Christian mingo. I'm asking you that because.
23:36
Speaker 3: Guy, buddy, I don't know. I can't give you any.
23:37
Speaker 5: Of guys be into like wrestling and stuff, so they
23:40
Speaker 5: would know like instantly, like if.
23:42
Speaker 3: I want you because you don't want to right, Yes,
23:46
Speaker 3: she's not dating because.
23:47
Speaker 4: She doesn't have after this long about a perfect okay right, okay, okay,
23:54
Speaker 4: m scratch.
23:55
Speaker 1: Him, Ladies and gentlemen, Mercedes morning, they thank you for
24:00
Speaker 1: joining us, sumuch, it's the breakfast Club.
24:02
Speaker 2: Good morning.
24:02
Speaker 1: Wake that ass up in the morning. Breakfast Club.
24:10
Speaker 3: Mhm.