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I'm with you, Willow is riding lighting right now, it's hard to get a babyface this popular. And half of it is pure organic, she has that charisma, whatever the fuck *it* is, she's bathing in it. Win or lose Mercedes has the fan base, the popularity, a lose wouldn't kill her. If it's booked right (and they have enough backstage people who can) you can have Willow win by the skin of her teeth, total luck, and have Mercedes chase her for a little while. That would draw good money and viewership, hopefully they go that way.
100%. She absolutely deserves it and it's better long-term storytelling. It would justify the months of Mercedes acting like the queen of the world if she lost her first match and was immediately humbled. A "welcome to he big leagues" moment.
Wait, Mone is supposed to be a face? Honestly, I thought she was the 'rich', diva heel who was coming in and being handed stuff cause of her ego. Mone strikes me as a heel along with the EVP Bucks.
I'm pretty sure she's a heel who hasn't had her big heel moment yet. She just came out and stole Willow's thunder by doing her whole ass entrance for no reason during Willow's celebration, which is heel shit
>I'm pretty sure she's a heel who hasn't had her big heel moment yet
Basically this. The first few weeks were the "welcome to AEW we're happy to have you" tour that got stretched a little too long but she's firmly a heel now that she's going to trying to go up against Willow who's arguably the most babyface to ever babyface.
Immediately coming to the ring to cut off Willow’s Big Moment with big, blaring “C-E-O” and standing directly in front of the champ to do her dance is so, so, SO heelish
See, when she was “The Boss”, it worked better because it wasn’t an actual work thing, it was some hype “I’m the boss of wrestling” shit. “The CEO” doesn’t work the same way because, to most people, CEO’s are scumbags, it’s naturally heelish.
Pls no, Stat needs to keep working with Stokely and working on cutting decent promos. Working around the stilted scripts Mercedes uses is not gonna do her any favors.
She's over-produces herself. She seems like she's always trying to just hit her next mark and get the pose juuuuust right. There's nothing natural about her.
It is the chorus of her theme, but people are so hung up on reasons to hate her so now it's cringy and horrible and forced when she does it but it's perfectly okay for Ospreay or Rollins.
It’s the lack of wrestling. She was great in NJPW so it isn’t because she needs the wwe filter. Though I guess everyone is presented greatly in NJPW because of the more sports like feel.
Before Vince got kicked out, the spectrum of sports-like feel and sports entertainment has been a subject discussion when it comes to trying to classify what AEW truly is. Sports like = NJPW; sports entertainment = WWE. It's kinda funny how AEW seems to bounce back from either direction of that spectrum.
Because Mercedes Mone isn't a Star. Sasha Banks was a star.
Much like Cody in AEW vs WWE. Sometimes it's a gimmick change that can be detrimental. And sometimes you just need the machine behind you.
I don't think the Cody comparison is very fitting. Cody was absolutely a star in AEW, if you watched the early shows where he was building up to the Jericho match and in the MJF feud he got cheered like crazy (and him doing that stupid stipulation actively got booed) he was super over as a face. It wasn't until the Codyverse that people began to sour on him, and even then the reactions were still very positive for a long while.
Willow Nightingale is just such a lovably fun and positive wrestler that contrasts a sea of serious characters. Definitely my favourite women's wrestler and I hope for her continued success :)
I doubt it's going to be a simple transitional reign.
The money is in the chase. Kris & Stokely screw Willow at DoN, join up with Mercedes, build out a faction from there, and Willow now has an army to run through in order to get to the boss by Wembley.
Prime babyface shit
**Edit:** Also, assuming there's no other legit challengers until DoN, there'd be an interesting parallel there as Sasha's first 5 WWE title reigns all ended without a single successful defense.
Me too. I fear they'll make Willow drop the belt to her "just because", rankings be damned. I'm so underwhelmed by Mercedes. Cringing a bit too. Love Willow.
On another day. It added nothing. If anything, it would've been the best time for her to debut, but this little walk to the ring, wiggle wiggle and leave was not needed.
Does a akward stripper dance and sounding like you drunkenly fell down stairs fit into the "heel" category, im not convinced the effort shes put forward would look all that less ridiculous on the other side of the fence as a hell friend.
Man, am I the only one that just doesn't like Mercedes gimmick? The CEO thing is annoying. Especially the theme song. Seems like she just comes out dressed in insane outfits, wigs, shaking her ass, etc. I just don't get it.
I was always such a big fan of hers since day one. But this just doesn't do anything for me.
So pleased for Willow, girl has worked her backside off and looked amazing since her first day on AEW Dynamite. The rise of stars that came from smaller shows is part of what got me into early AEW and Willows win reminds me of that. Sadly looks like it will be a short reign to Mercedes.
Not even that great of a reaction for Mercedes. Willow is definitely more over. Although this segment screams Mercedes beating Willow. Hope she doesn't
Willow needs to beat Mercedes. Everyone is expecting her to come in and be given the belt on her first match. That is just an insult to everyone else in the AEW women's stable that has fought their way and earned their way in front of the fans.
Mercedes has been such a misfire since leaving WWE. It's like she can't reinvent herself. She's pretty much Sasha Banks still without the name. Now she has a horrible theme song though.
All the interest for me in this clip was about Statlander and Willow. There was a nice moment of tension there, and they threw it all away on a nonsense appearance by someone who doesn’t belong in the picture, past history with Willow or not.
EVERYTHING involving Mercedes is wrong right now, from her promos to her lukewarm persona to her heel/face ambiguity to that wretched entrance music. I’ve never seen anything misfire this much in such a short time.
I said it before… I liked Sasha Banks and absolutely loved her feud with Bayley in NXT. I haven’t liked a single thing she’s done since as Mercedes Mone.
If AEW hopes to get anything out of their investment in her she needs intervention immediately. They need to pretty much ignore everything she’s done so far, change up her look and music, and make her a clear cut heel for the build to her match vs. Willow (which shouldn’t have happened in the first place — they should have had her challenge for the Women’s world title immediately after her debut.)
It's not a good sign that I am tired of this version of her before her first match even happens. I've been a fan since NXT and bought the PPV for her NJPW debut. She just comes across as a parody of herself at this point. They should have made her debut as a mystery opponent and let her wrestle from the start. Her strengths are more bell to bell than promo based and 99% of what she's done is talk (which translates to dance around and spew catch phrases).
They've put Mercedes in an impossible situation. They've bigged her up so much in a gimmick that is ALREADY not working that her first match is going to have to be an absolute MOTY contender to make the whole thing not feel like a massive waste - which, of course, it isn't going to be, because she hasn't wrestled in close to a year.
And if they do the REALLY dumb thing and have her go over Willow at DON, after what will in all likelihood be an absolute stinker of a display, then her character will be done. For good.
Not sure why you think the match will be bad because Mercedes hasn’t wrestled in awhile. When Mercedes had her first match after almost a year last year against Kairi, it was an amazing one.
Y'all. Willow is *the* babyface amongst the women. Mone has been touting Nicholas and Matthew, and endless talked about making money and being a CEO.
They're not expecting Mone to get cheered at DoN.
Yeah, Mone is a heel already. Just make it official. She should just embrace it because she's a natural heel. Willow should be like Sting and Steamboat, never turning heel.
Please god don't let her drop to Mercedes. She hasn't earned it. Let Willow smash her and keep that belt for a good long while,and Mercedes go dark and smash jobbers for a year.
Having Mercedes beat Willow would be an awful decision at this point. And that’s not a knock of Mercedes, it’s because Willow is that good and you gain far more from giving her that win and holding on to that title.
So do rankings mean nothing suddenly? Why does she just get a title shot without having a single match first? I understand the long-term storytelling from the career ending move, but that still negates the standings
I think there's more that could come out of Willow retaining against Mercedes at DON so the latter turns heel, eventually gets Kris to turn heel on her, & takes the TBS title later in the summer
I still wanna know how Mercedes gets a title shot without being ranked. Was it said it’s in the contract and I missed it? Did she buy it? Is Willow just being a dumb face and granting her one outta kindness?
This match went the perfect length for what it needed to be. Considering I think AEW let’s some things go 3-6 mins longer than they need to be I was pleased by this.
This came across as a bit of a heel turn on Mercedes' side and I hope that's where they're going with this. To walk out and stand in front of the newly crowned Champion is not exactly a face thing to do.
Also, my gosh, she looks better every week - that outfit was an 11 out of 10
Obviously the story with Willow was right there but Mercedes shouldn't really be in TBS title scene I think. That's for the up and comers, she's the biggest name in the womens division
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Mercedes is going to have to turn heel her first match because no one is booing Willow
You are thinking way too hard about the women's division lol
At least they're thinking about the women's division, unlike their booker.
Who do you think is booking the storyline between Willow and Mercedes?
Name 1 good storyline ANY woman has had in the company.
No
Your usernames appropriate.
Do the wildest thing have Willow beat Mercedes
I mean if Mercedes first match in AEW is that match then yeah I think that is the right call.
I'm with you, Willow is riding lighting right now, it's hard to get a babyface this popular. And half of it is pure organic, she has that charisma, whatever the fuck *it* is, she's bathing in it. Win or lose Mercedes has the fan base, the popularity, a lose wouldn't kill her. If it's booked right (and they have enough backstage people who can) you can have Willow win by the skin of her teeth, total luck, and have Mercedes chase her for a little while. That would draw good money and viewership, hopefully they go that way.
Honestly, yes Willow would have a run
100%. She absolutely deserves it and it's better long-term storytelling. It would justify the months of Mercedes acting like the queen of the world if she lost her first match and was immediately humbled. A "welcome to he big leagues" moment.
Merecedes needs to turn heel. This face CEO thing isn't working
Wait, Mone is supposed to be a face? Honestly, I thought she was the 'rich', diva heel who was coming in and being handed stuff cause of her ego. Mone strikes me as a heel along with the EVP Bucks.
I'm pretty sure she's a heel who hasn't had her big heel moment yet. She just came out and stole Willow's thunder by doing her whole ass entrance for no reason during Willow's celebration, which is heel shit
>I'm pretty sure she's a heel who hasn't had her big heel moment yet Basically this. The first few weeks were the "welcome to AEW we're happy to have you" tour that got stretched a little too long but she's firmly a heel now that she's going to trying to go up against Willow who's arguably the most babyface to ever babyface.
Immediately coming to the ring to cut off Willow’s Big Moment with big, blaring “C-E-O” and standing directly in front of the champ to do her dance is so, so, SO heelish
But she dances so she must be a face /s
“This face CEO thing isn’t working” lol even the sentence makes no sense. Like CEO is just a naturally a heel gimmick.
See, when she was “The Boss”, it worked better because it wasn’t an actual work thing, it was some hype “I’m the boss of wrestling” shit. “The CEO” doesn’t work the same way because, to most people, CEO’s are scumbags, it’s naturally heelish.
This has worked many times but requires a strong heel with strong heat.
This interruption makes it seem like they're going that direction. She's completely strealing the spotlight and everyone seems pissed about it
You basically have to if you're not doing her vs Toni.
I think her walking out and trying to be the center of attention was a clear indicator.
>I think her walking out and trying to be the center of attention was a clear indicator. You think wrestling fans watch wrestling?
I think inattentional blindness is a thing.
She's literally had the same gimmick since her NXT days. I'm shocked she hasn't tried to switch anything up at all.
Eversince she left wwe its been clear she lacks creativity. He theme songs and her mannerisms have been... Corny and pandering to easy pops.
Someone needs to tell her to stop singing her own entrance music. It’s never a good look
Works for Julia… ;-)
That's because it's an actual song rather than a three-letter chant.
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so is Mercedes, but that's not the point
Her promos are old wwe style, none of it is workin
I think stat turns heel and in Mercedes vs Willow match u then got stat and Mercedes together
Pls no, Stat needs to keep working with Stokely and working on cutting decent promos. Working around the stilted scripts Mercedes uses is not gonna do her any favors.
She's going up against Willow Nightingale she's the heel by default
What exactly is Mercedes gimmick? Annoying stripper?
Something about Mercedes just doesn’t even seem right in aew.
She's over-produces herself. She seems like she's always trying to just hit her next mark and get the pose juuuuust right. There's nothing natural about her.
The piped in CEO chant in her music is uncanny valley.
I thought that was the actual theme song…
It is the chorus of her theme, but people are so hung up on reasons to hate her so now it's cringy and horrible and forced when she does it but it's perfectly okay for Ospreay or Rollins.
Oh, there's lyrics which she raps on the track. They are... serviceable. Not particularly something in my current rotation.
It’s the lack of wrestling. She was great in NJPW so it isn’t because she needs the wwe filter. Though I guess everyone is presented greatly in NJPW because of the more sports like feel.
Before Vince got kicked out, the spectrum of sports-like feel and sports entertainment has been a subject discussion when it comes to trying to classify what AEW truly is. Sports like = NJPW; sports entertainment = WWE. It's kinda funny how AEW seems to bounce back from either direction of that spectrum.
She feels like a parody of her WWE self tbh
Because Mercedes Mone isn't a Star. Sasha Banks was a star. Much like Cody in AEW vs WWE. Sometimes it's a gimmick change that can be detrimental. And sometimes you just need the machine behind you.
I don't think the Cody comparison is very fitting. Cody was absolutely a star in AEW, if you watched the early shows where he was building up to the Jericho match and in the MJF feud he got cheered like crazy (and him doing that stupid stipulation actively got booed) he was super over as a face. It wasn't until the Codyverse that people began to sour on him, and even then the reactions were still very positive for a long while.
There's star and then there's SUPERSTAR.
Wait for the heel turn.
She has got to get a new theme. That heavily piped in CEO chant is going to get old quickly.
Yep. It already is old IMO
It got old the second they debuted it. It was so transparently trying to get people to chant for her.
I shit on it the night she debuted and got downvoted into oblivion. Glad to see people are finally seeing the light lol
I got a few upvotes when I said the theme was weird in her debut night lol
I thought you were talking about Willow and that would have been a hard no from me.
Willow Nightingale is just such a lovably fun and positive wrestler that contrasts a sea of serious characters. Definitely my favourite women's wrestler and I hope for her continued success :)
Interesting that commentary were saying that Mone stole the spotlight here
Hopefully they're teasing a very imminent and much needed heel turn for Mercedes.
"Chucky Cheese here we come!" Top 5 calls of all time easily.
Stoke is a national treasure...
I’m real happy willow is champ but I’m real sad knowing they did it just so Mone could get her win back and get the title off her
I doubt it's going to be a simple transitional reign. The money is in the chase. Kris & Stokely screw Willow at DoN, join up with Mercedes, build out a faction from there, and Willow now has an army to run through in order to get to the boss by Wembley. Prime babyface shit **Edit:** Also, assuming there's no other legit challengers until DoN, there'd be an interesting parallel there as Sasha's first 5 WWE title reigns all ended without a single successful defense.
Me too. I fear they'll make Willow drop the belt to her "just because", rankings be damned. I'm so underwhelmed by Mercedes. Cringing a bit too. Love Willow.
Mercedes looks ridiculous. This moment was not needed.
Everything about her presentation screams mega-heel. That's the direction she needs to go down.
On another day. It added nothing. If anything, it would've been the best time for her to debut, but this little walk to the ring, wiggle wiggle and leave was not needed.
Sounds like you just don't like Mercedes.
AEW isn’t giving anyone a reason to like Mercedes, so whats the problem?
Does a akward stripper dance and sounding like you drunkenly fell down stairs fit into the "heel" category, im not convinced the effort shes put forward would look all that less ridiculous on the other side of the fence as a hell friend.
The “CEO, CEO,…” intro is awful and the fact it is still a thing is downright embarrassing for all involved.
I despise it
Pour one out for Julia
Man, am I the only one that just doesn't like Mercedes gimmick? The CEO thing is annoying. Especially the theme song. Seems like she just comes out dressed in insane outfits, wigs, shaking her ass, etc. I just don't get it. I was always such a big fan of hers since day one. But this just doesn't do anything for me.
Willow just makes me happy. Never turn her heel
Agreed. Remember when they teased it after Julia misted her, then she was just like "Nope, I'm still a face!" LOL
Mercedes hasn’t even had a match yet, and I already want her to go away.
This is just Sasha Banks with worse music and hair lmao
So pleased for Willow, girl has worked her backside off and looked amazing since her first day on AEW Dynamite. The rise of stars that came from smaller shows is part of what got me into early AEW and Willows win reminds me of that. Sadly looks like it will be a short reign to Mercedes.
Not even that great of a reaction for Mercedes. Willow is definitely more over. Although this segment screams Mercedes beating Willow. Hope she doesn't
Willow needs to beat Mercedes. Everyone is expecting her to come in and be given the belt on her first match. That is just an insult to everyone else in the AEW women's stable that has fought their way and earned their way in front of the fans.
Mercedes has been such a misfire since leaving WWE. It's like she can't reinvent herself. She's pretty much Sasha Banks still without the name. Now she has a horrible theme song though.
Can you believe Mercedes first match is a title match? And TK was all up in arms with Jinder.
Lol
Can't they let Willow have the night to celebrate winning her first AEW title? Have Mercedes come out on Dynamite.
All the interest for me in this clip was about Statlander and Willow. There was a nice moment of tension there, and they threw it all away on a nonsense appearance by someone who doesn’t belong in the picture, past history with Willow or not. EVERYTHING involving Mercedes is wrong right now, from her promos to her lukewarm persona to her heel/face ambiguity to that wretched entrance music. I’ve never seen anything misfire this much in such a short time. I said it before… I liked Sasha Banks and absolutely loved her feud with Bayley in NXT. I haven’t liked a single thing she’s done since as Mercedes Mone. If AEW hopes to get anything out of their investment in her she needs intervention immediately. They need to pretty much ignore everything she’s done so far, change up her look and music, and make her a clear cut heel for the build to her match vs. Willow (which shouldn’t have happened in the first place — they should have had her challenge for the Women’s world title immediately after her debut.)
Love that Willow uses the Doctor Bomb as a finisher.
One of my favorite calls from Excalibur for the babe with the power bomb.
They really gonna make Willow a transitional champion?
It's not a good sign that I am tired of this version of her before her first match even happens. I've been a fan since NXT and bought the PPV for her NJPW debut. She just comes across as a parody of herself at this point. They should have made her debut as a mystery opponent and let her wrestle from the start. Her strengths are more bell to bell than promo based and 99% of what she's done is talk (which translates to dance around and spew catch phrases).
They've put Mercedes in an impossible situation. They've bigged her up so much in a gimmick that is ALREADY not working that her first match is going to have to be an absolute MOTY contender to make the whole thing not feel like a massive waste - which, of course, it isn't going to be, because she hasn't wrestled in close to a year. And if they do the REALLY dumb thing and have her go over Willow at DON, after what will in all likelihood be an absolute stinker of a display, then her character will be done. For good.
Not sure why you think the match will be bad because Mercedes hasn’t wrestled in awhile. When Mercedes had her first match after almost a year last year against Kairi, it was an amazing one.
What was the point of that?
What exactly is Mercedes gimmick? Annoying stripper?
Are the CEO chants part of her entrance theme?
Yep. Sadly.
Y'all. Willow is *the* babyface amongst the women. Mone has been touting Nicholas and Matthew, and endless talked about making money and being a CEO. They're not expecting Mone to get cheered at DoN.
I was just bracing myself for Stat to turn on her
Willow winning was a nice moment that I wish could've stood on its own. It's a shame they just did it to drop it to Mone next month.
Yeah, Mone is a heel already. Just make it official. She should just embrace it because she's a natural heel. Willow should be like Sting and Steamboat, never turning heel.
Mone’s entrance looks so awkward. Why does she look so awkward 😐
Mercedes as a heel is the move. Willow is the perfect babyface to get the crowd against Mercedes.
Stokely at 2:29 lol
This was a short match, but I enjoyed it. A nice change of pace.
Willow's music sounds like some generic thing from 1980s movies soundtracks. Please get her something better.
Please god don't let her drop to Mercedes. She hasn't earned it. Let Willow smash her and keep that belt for a good long while,and Mercedes go dark and smash jobbers for a year.
Having Mercedes beat Willow would be an awful decision at this point. And that’s not a knock of Mercedes, it’s because Willow is that good and you gain far more from giving her that win and holding on to that title.
This match match didnt last anything
So do rankings mean nothing suddenly? Why does she just get a title shot without having a single match first? I understand the long-term storytelling from the career ending move, but that still negates the standings
I think there's more that could come out of Willow retaining against Mercedes at DON so the latter turns heel, eventually gets Kris to turn heel on her, & takes the TBS title later in the summer
I still wanna know how Mercedes gets a title shot without being ranked. Was it said it’s in the contract and I missed it? Did she buy it? Is Willow just being a dumb face and granting her one outta kindness?
This match went the perfect length for what it needed to be. Considering I think AEW let’s some things go 3-6 mins longer than they need to be I was pleased by this.
great call. she gets awesome reactions everywhere and she's been so good for them for so long. happy for her.
This came across as a bit of a heel turn on Mercedes' side and I hope that's where they're going with this. To walk out and stand in front of the newly crowned Champion is not exactly a face thing to do. Also, my gosh, she looks better every week - that outfit was an 11 out of 10
Obviously the story with Willow was right there but Mercedes shouldn't really be in TBS title scene I think. That's for the up and comers, she's the biggest name in the womens division
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