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Major movement in the Mercedes Mone free agent watch, as WWE sources claim talks fell apart between the two sides. 

Top free agent Mercedes Mone aka Sasha Banks and WWE had been engaged in conversations to possibly bring her back to the company. However, WWE sources stated to Fightful Friday night that the two sides are no longer in active negotiations regarding a return.  The two sides had recently been engaged in conversations about a return. We're told the dialogue was friendly, the back and forth failed to progress, and WWE sources claim that their side walked as a result of it. 

Another source within the company believed that she would end up appearing elsewhere imminently, but didn't state where. AEW has their Worlds End Show Saturday, NJPW has Wrestle Kingdom next week, and TNA Wrestling is rebranding for Hard to Kill in two weeks. 

As of August, Fightful was told that there was a working plan for Mercedes to come to AEW, however, as of early December, that particular plan was not happening. NJPW also was hoping to maintain a positive relationship with her as well, and hoped to talk to her in recent months. We're told that outside of WWE, all options were back on the table as of mid-December. 

This comes after what several perceived as teases to a WWE return on social media this week.



Comments

Patrick Farrugia

this is worth the yearly subscription, let alone the $5/month

M

Sounding like TNA or her own Japan tour now

Chad McLaughlin

Well Mariah May does need an opponent next week...

Mark lacking

Hope this is a CM Punk / Cody Rhodes sort of situation but happy for her wherever she shows up.

Brandon Mars

im not trying to be a hater, but wasn't this the same trick WWE pulled when they said that CM Punk was no longer in talks with them?

Trevor D.

Wow! Excellent reporting SRS and team!

Insomnia Inc

Well that's an insane thing to read. I just want to watch her play outside, The possibilities are almost endless and they've been really fun so far.

thaddperkins

My vote is TNA. But I can also see her staying in Japan.

Super Dave Osborne

Said it the other day that she might show up at worlds end. She might not show up anywhere because it seems she is asking for a value that no one is comfortable paying

Margie Del Castillo

There was a tease just today on Mercedes’ IG. Sigh, I want her back in WWE.

Geo

woowwwwwww absolute insanity! Great job on the reporting, defo worth the 5 bucks a month!

Joe Mbangu

This could also be a way of "expect the unexpected" for her appearance in RR

Dylan Stewart

I think she shows up at Worlds End, plus I didn’t think she would return to WWE because the teases seemed too obvious but hey never know!

Super Dave Osborne

Boozer has been hinting at her in WWE. Let’s see if he is accurate or not

Nick Holton

Well I trust fightful but they said the same about punk, we’ll see where and when she pops back up

Danny Valentin

When you say "their side walked away" does that mean Monè's side or wwe?

Edwin

Well damn.

slick

I had a feeling she was going to show up tomorrow

Laquita Momon

It wasn't a trick anyone pulled with him either, WWE & CM Punk weren't in talks until about a week or so before his return. This might be a similar thing to where, they're not talking, but things can change at a later time.

lukebones

You’re doing the work but I don’t trust anything from wwe after the punk swerve.

Jason

Because of the Punk news, I think there will be insane confidence that she’ll be at Royal Rumble. And she will probably be tbere

Joshua G

World’s End?

Trevor D.

Wonder if she shows up tomorrow now, although I do wonder if she’d want to maintain flexibility if she’s not going back to WWE.

Doreen Ford

If I'm there live for her debut tomorrow I'm gonna freak out. Still, similar things were said about Punk according to some. Is that true?

Cody

I hate to come across as knocking her, but I’ve been getting the impression from her that she thinks as highly of herself the way Ultimate Warrior thought of himself. Not to say she’s not a big women’s star, but she seems to think she’s the biggest female star in the business and she’s not.

Cody

That Boozer guy is a charlatan. Anything he said about Punk was pure speculation that he pulled out of his sphincter!

Isaac Gudin

Feels like she’s got a Japan to finish

Datdudedc

tbh.. anything but aew is a W in my book

Super Dave Osborne

I think to be fair to Sean, he fact checks everything before posting and putting his name on a report. The whole punk saga was odd as it appears the “higher ups” misled people. Follwing the hints, it seems wwe and punk were dancing around each other for awhile but only admitted to the media that they started talking a week prior.

Cody

The thing I’m curious about is if her asking price is too high for WWE, how the hell can a TNA or New Japan pay it? I don’t doubt AEW would do it since they don’t have to make a profit, but how could TNA or New Japan hope to afford her? I don’t even think she could make that much of a difference for TNA or New Japan. They are as popular as they’re ever gonna be and the only way for them to go is down.

Justin Reid

Wasnt this the same thing we heard about Punk right before Survivor Series?

Joe

Begging her not to go to AEW. She’ll be used well for a month and then poor

Kris Hill

If everything did in fact, fall apart, that's a big fumble by WWE. Everything should've been yes, yes, and yes

Super Dave Osborne

Boozer has been very accurate and 95% of the time is spot on on his “hints”. He is a character and is not on the same level as SRS but he is not a grifter like Xero, Wrestling Blog and that incel, abuser who runs RSN.

Miles Gilman

Hope she ends up in AEW. Would love to see her v Julia, Skye, Stat, TR, Britt, HAYTER, Shida, Riho, etc…the list is endless, some would say TIMELESS

Zenopia

hopefully she winds up in AEW...She can still work New Japan with AEW and can really further develop the Mecedes Mone character which was fabulous before the injury. I also think she can easily be the first female to main event an AEW PPV with the right opponent such as Athena or Hayter. I think she would further expand Women's wrestling and would be yet another accolade in her career.

Troy A Palek

WWE was telling talent Punk wasn't coming in. I believe she will show up at wrestle kingdom. But if she shows in wwe I'd say higher up's lying to SRS about this would at least mean they aren't working the lockerroom this time.

Troy A Palek

Best $5 in the business!!!!!!!!

David Murcia

I’m confused who side walked off ? WWE side ? Or Mone side?

Troy A Palek

I personally agree but from a business perspective, especially in a publicly traded company, if the $$ doesn't work for their profit goals they kinda can't do it

e d

Interesting

Doreen Ford

On one hand I'm glad that they all swerved us about Punk because that was awesome. But on the other hand working the locker room is tricky business and can backfire. Either way, thanks for the reply and the clarification!

Datdudedc

i watch japan and wwe. dont have time to watch wednesdays and when I have, i just haven’t enjoyed it as much as others! no hate just wouldnt be able to watch her where she would be used the most imo! all love

River Escobar

As much as I’d like to see her back in wwe I just hope she gets a lot of money where ever she goes

David Murcia

Why would WWE WALK AWAY ?! I guess that tweet she made “HHH all I want for Christmas is mone “ was about her wanting more money then Charlotte…WWE SHOT THEMSELVES ON THE FOOT.

Michael

No. See business is business and if the deal isn’t right on BOTH SIDES, there’s no deal to be made. Period.

dead inside failure

I trust SRS reporting however, the whole Mercedes situation feels like a giant smokescreen by whatever company she winds up in and her to get people talking and wondering. The sudden change (which I'm not a fan of) in a certain WWE storyline was the only thing that had me convinced she was WWE bound. WWE, AEW, TNA, NJPW...wouldn't all try and smokescreen her being signed so it's a surprise? She might even encourage it as part of her agreeing to a deal. With Mercedes, nothing is for sure until she's there it feels.

Scott George

Can't say as I blame her. Going back to WWE would be defeating the cause since she'd be back in the same situation as when she left. She should take the Matt Cardona route. He's made more money than he's ever made. Even when he was with WWE. She's smart. She already has a plan in place for he's I bet.

fightful

For those asking -- No, this isn't like the CM Punk situation. WWE physically signed his deal the day of Survivor Series. They never confirmed they were in talks with him to us.

CSDX

What I took from this, specifically the WWE walking part, is that Mercedes knows her worth and WWE doesn't like that.

Brian Bayless

Mercedes is the belle of the ball. Can drive up her price as these companies would want her as a major signing.

slick

Mariah may is actually very good in the ring. I watched some of her matches in Stardom on youtube

Skyler Rains

Didn’t WWE vehemently deny that there were any talks with Punk up to and including the day of?

Aaron P

Thanks for staying on top of this story. I subbed to Select just after the walk out and stay subbed for continued good work. I guess it’s back to me hoping she gets the bag from AEW or even TNA at this point. I would also be happy to see her Japan run extended.

Desmond McDade

Disappointing update but I wish her the best. I'm not an AEW fan so the possibly of seeing her in AEW doesn't really interest me. But it's her decision to make & I want her to be happy. WWE has a very strong women's roster & I don't think they need her, just my opinion.

Kyle Pribila

This is why Fightful Select is the best 5 dollars in the world

Stew Sizer

Sounds like they don't want to pay her price or let her keep her name/brand. Ah well

Dave Wilkins

Her first feud needs to be Willow if she ends up in AEW.

ES

The Punk story was always that they weren't in any sort of negotiation, up until about a week before he appeared, which HHH confirmed at the press conference. This is completely different, confirming they were in talks but have walked away.

ES

I'd imagine he heard there was negotiations happening so put stuff out there early to try and make it seem like he's the first to get these bits of news. I'm sure Sean also has heard about the negotiations for a while but the difference is he waits until something is actually confirmed before reporting it.

Troy A Palek

The only logical reason is that her demands didn't meet the profit goal they would need to give such a deal in a publicly traded company

Troy A Palek

It always amazes me that people who PAY FOR SELECT still can't understand what they read. I'm not even sure its a media literacy problem, it may be just a literacy problem

Pugzilla

TNA TNA TNA TNA TNA TNA

Jessica

How can you fumble signing Mercedes like give this woman whatever the hell she wants she deserves it 😭

Marq

After seeing what it was alleged that Mercedes was making compared to other women at her level in the company, I don't blame her for not going back if they're not willing to pay her what she's worth

Troy A Palek

Still gotta make business sense, at least in wwe cuz they are a publicly traded company

Troy A Palek

He said this morning she is coming to feud with Julia Hart. I'm nor sure how you people miss what he does, he predicts every possible outcome so no matter what he looks correct. I predict she will show up in either WWE, AEW, TNA, Stardom, or New Japan (see how easy that is?) Lol

Jason Konan

You don't know her and are simply speculating on whatever youve read or a "hunch". This is why pro wrestling has so many untrue rumors, because people speculate on something they know nothing about and then it gets repeated and taken as fact.

Cody

I’m not a reporter, I was commenting on a post saying an impression I get from her. It was just my observation.

lonelynation

Her run was cut short with the injury. I'm sure she'll return to WWE one day but in the meantime, I hope she gets to experience all she wants to do in Japan and wherever else she may go.