AEW's Mercedes Mone Reflects On WWE WrestleMania Moment That 'Changed Everything'

In 2019, Charlotte Flair, Ronda Rousey, and Becky Lynch made history as the first ever all-women's main event at WWE WrestleMania. Two years later, Bianca Belair vs. Mercedes Mone (aka Sasha Banks) became the second to do so on the grand stage. At the same time, they solidified themselves as the first Black women to headline any WWE pay-per-view. In a recent edition of "Mone Mag," Mone reflected on her bout with Belair, which closed out night one of WrestleMania 37 with an image of "The EST" holding up the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship.

"That night at WrestleMania will always live in my heart," Mone wrote. "Wrestling Bianca wasn't just about a match; it was about making history. We didn't find out we were main eventing until about a day and a half before. I had been praying, manifesting, and hoping—and when they finally told us, I was overwhelmed.

"Lying on the floor at the end, I watched Bianca's husband run out to celebrate with her. Even though I was selling from the pain of the match, I couldn't stop smiling. I thought to myself, 'If I had seen this as a little girl, I can't even imagine the kind of superstar I would've become.' Even though I lost, it felt like a Cinderella moment. That night, WWE didn't just change my life—they changed the entire game for women's wrestling."

Belair vs. Mone remains close to the hearts of the competitors involved as well as many fans that watched it live. "WWE NXT" star Lash Legend recently revealed herself as one of the ones most captivated by it, so much so that she still feels goosebumps thinking about it. In the present day, Mone resides in AEW as the TBS Champion. Meanwhile, Belair is continuing to recover from multiple broken fingers sustained at WrestleMania 41.