Thunder Rosa Describes Mercedes Mone's Feelings Before AEW Double Or Nothing Match

AEW Double or Nothing 2024 saw the long-awaited in-ring debut of Mercedes Mone in All Elite Wrestling as she finally got a measure of revenge on Willow Nightingale by becoming the new AEW TBS Champion. Just over a year after breaking her ankle in a match against Nightingale, Mone proved to her fans, her detractors, and everyone in between that she means it when she says that she is "the CEO of professional wrestling." However, according to Thunder Rosa, Mone did feel the weight of the occasion before she made her entrance last Sunday.

Rosa revealed on a recent edition of "Busted Open Radio" that she got to talk to Mone before the TBS Championship match, and she admitted that there were definitely some nerves on show from the CEO.

"She was very, very nervous before the match," Rosa said. "This match was so important to her on a personal level because of the severity of her injury, and when it comes within your psyche, knowing that when she got injured that was it, she was not going to be able to wrestle. The fact that she was able to wrestle at the level that she did on Sunday, and she proved to herself that she still can do this and does it at a level that people wish they could."

In the days since Double or Nothing, Mone has already made her first title defense, defeating Skye Blue on the May 28 edition of "AEW Dynamite" in what was also her in-ring debut on AEW TV. However, that episode also saw the arrival of the NJPW STRONG and CMLL World Women's Champion Stephanie Vaquer, who confronted Mone after the match in a possible preview of AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door on June 30.

Please credit "Busted Open Radio" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.