Dax Harwood: Mercedes Moné Wanted To Be Looked At In The Same Light As The Rock & Steve Austin

With NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 in the rear view and Battle in the Valley on the horizon, we are under no doubt that Mercedes Moné is free from her WWE contract, putting an end to a saga that lasted over six months.

Moné - fka Sasha Banks - walked out of WWE in May 2022 in part due to creative frustration, and FTR’s Dax Harwood has spoken up in defence of Moné, putting over the ‘CEO’s love for the business during an episode of the FTR podcast:

"She did take the tag team titles very seriously, but she took wrestling very seriously too,” said Harwood. “She didn't get into wrestling just to get into wrestling. She got into wrestling to make a difference. Not just women's wrestling, but for all of wrestling. She wanted to be looked at in the same light as Stone Cold Steve Austin or Hulk Hogan or The Rock. She wanted to be looked at that way and she wanted to make a difference in wrestling that way. She's very prideful. Sometimes, speaking from experience, pride can rub people the wrong way because you do stand up for what you believe in and you don't take no for an answer because you want the best for yourself and you want the best for your craft and your art, as corny as 'art' sounds, that word is too cliche now, but when you take it so seriously, it's a recipe for success, but a lot of people aren't going to like you because of it. I think that's maybe what happened to her."

Moné and Harwood both wrestled as part of WWE NXT’s black and gold era, and reunited backstage at Wrestle Kingdom 17 where FTR dropped the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Titles to Bishamon.

H/T: Fightful