Bayley Celebrates 10th Anniversary Of NXT Match With Former WWE Star, AEW's Mercedes Mone
Ten years flies by when you're out making history every single time you step between the ropes. On August 22, 2015, a pompous, self-serving NXT Women's Champion, walks into the Barclays Center to defend her championship on her 191th day as the undisputed victor against a publicly-spirited opponent, who empowers those with her huggable charm. Everyone has their own opinion on which women's match is the greatest to have ever taken place in the squared circle, but very few argue against the magic Sasha Banks (AEW's Mercedes Mone) and Bayley would cast on women's wrestling, period. Yesterday, this once-in-a-lifetime bout celebrated its 10th anniversary.
The woman who unseated the coveted champion at "WWE NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn," Bayley, memorialized this pivotal moment on both her X [formerly known as Twitter] and Instagram pages. On the latter platform, Bayley revisited that commemorative moment by sharing, "10 years ago today. It's hard to put it into words right now but hang with us on IG live later today and I'll try to express all these crazy feelings. I'm forever grateful that my wrestling journey aligned with yours, @mercedesmone. To be around someone that truly felt the SAME way that I did about all of this has been a blessing. I still can't believe we have this night that will live on forever. You're the best in the world. You changed my life. And we changed da world. Thank you everyone [heart emoji]."
A night that I can still feel as if it was yesterday.
Happy 10.
We can't celebrate it the way we wished as we're both overseas BUT we'll be doing an IG together live in a few hours. See you guys then ❤️ pic.twitter.com/LpsjkTx4Lj
— Bayley (@itsBayleyWWE) August 22, 2025
Ten Years Later: Where Are They Now
That moment alone set an immensely high standard in WWE, not just within the women's division, but the men's as well. For the two former Horsewomen, it encouraged them to expand past their previous reach and keep making history in WWE by becoming the inaugural Women's Tag Team under the Boss 'n' Hug Connection and carrying the two piece hardware twice. Now, both women have sculpted new paths in their solo careers.
The fourth-ever WWE Women's Triple Crown and third-ever Women's Grand Slam Champion, Mone, left the promotion that turned her into a household name to officially join AEW in 2024. Just like the history she made with Bayley, she and the current AEW Women's World Champion, "Timeless" Toni Storm, made herstory by landmarking what many call the greatest women's match in AEW history at All In: Texas last month. Even though she couldn't beat Storm at her own game, and suffered a blemish to her undefeated record she had prior, Mone currently sits atop the championship mountain as the TBS Champion, marking her first reign as the second longest run with the title at 448 days, as of now (former AEW/current WWE Superstar Jade Cargill still remains the longest reigning champion of the title with 508 days). Not to mention, "The CEO" has eight additional belts draped around her waist and arms from additional commercial and independent promotions around the world.
As for the "Role Model," Bayley is stuck between a rock and a hard place regarding what's next for her after several unsuccessful attempts at securing the WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship. Playing up the real life apprehension she has about where she stands in the women's division now, the first-ever Women's Triple and Grand Slam Champion is tormented by two opposite personas she's once had: an angel (the huggable image) versus the devil (ding dong, hello façade).
Despite the paradigm shifts Mone and Bayley are seeing now within their careers, their shared experience that night in Brooklyn, New York, will forever be cemented as a moment that will often be imitated, but will never be successfully duplicated. Suffice to say, they didn't play the game, they changed the game, and wrote a better ending.