When characters evolve in wrestling, it can be a daunting task. For Mercedes Mone, current AEW TBS and NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion, it came easy. After she left WWE, beginning the path that would eventually lead her to AEW, Mone felt empowered to expand the image she was trying to sell back in the heyday of the “Legit Boss” era to a more compelling go-getter who refused to take no for an answer. Recently, Mone sat down with “The Breakfast Club” to discuss the difficulties one experiences when embracing the world of kayfabe, and how she refused to have a defeatist attitude when her Banks character wasn’t working out anymore.

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“Being a wrestler is role-playing online; it’s role-playing offline. Once I put on that wig, I’m Sasha Banks … but I’m not. I’m not her. I’m Mercedes Mone,” Mone commented. “I really felt like it was time to be that, and to own that brand.” In her own words, Mone argued that her Banks and Mone characters are night and day. With Mone, she has more freedom behind the wheel to make her own creative decisions, a major factor in why she signed with AEW. Back in WWE, she felt her Banks persona did not have an active voice, which she mentioned more about when asked about her past relationship with former WWE CEO Vince McMahon later in the interview.

“Sasha was a ‘Legit Boss.’ Now, Mercedes, she leveled up. She is the ‘CEO’ of her own life,” Mone replied. “She is the CEO of the women’s division, and she is the best in the game. She won’t let anybody tell her no. With Sasha Banks, I was told what to do. I was told what to say. I was told where to be. And now, really, I get to be the CEO of my own life, and let people know where I want to be.”

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If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “The Breakfast Club” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.