Ahead of March 2024, fans were wondering if Sasha Banks would debut in AEW. For weeks, speculations sprung high with the hopes that the former WWE Women’s Champ would return to the WWE. However, she debuted as Mercedes Mone at AEW Big Business in Boston in March. Dawning on the moniker of CEO, her AEW run hasn’t been that interesting. At AEW Double or Nothing in Las Vegas, TBS Champion Willow Nightingale will defend her title against Mercedes Mone.

While she is about to compete at Double or Nothing, what role did Tony Khan play in this lackluster role?

Did Tony Khan botch the build to Mercedes Mone in AEW?

On the latest episode of the Busted Open podcast, Dave LaGreca and Tommy Dreamer spoke about Mone’s AEW run. With her first in-ring match coming up at the pay-per-view, the duo discussed her run so far. While she was not medically cleared to wrestle, she did do some promo work in the company. At 4:38, LaGreca said, “You just said that with Tony Khan, he kind of throws his talent out there in some circumstances and lets the fans decide.” This is exactly what happened with Mone. There was no indication she was earmarked for a specific build-up. Moreover, fans did not know whether she was a heel or babyface.

LaGreca isn’t the only one to point out that Khan never explains who plays what in AEW. While this lack of hand-holding is great, many AEW fans believe this hampers the star’s growth as a character. He continued, “I’m sure the game plan was to have her be one of the biggest babyface wrestlers in the women’s division. That is not the case right now.” While Mone was a hometown hero during her debut, her lack of matches has turned the fans against her. Another notable celebrity also spoke about the same issue that is prevalent with AEW.

O’Shea Jackson Jr. also highlighted AEW’s reluctance in building up stars

The Busted Open duo aren’t the first to point out this issue. O’Shea Jackson Jr. also mentioned the same thing, which got him into hot water with the AEW fans. He, too, mentioned that the lack of build-up for AEW stars left him confused about who he needs to root for. While this sort of hand holding did distinguish itself from how their chief rivals operated, fans did not take kindly to the complete lack of indication.

While fans hope Mone will have a splendid match at the upcoming PPV, there are still rumors that she will return to WWE. Despite reports indicating that her AEW deal is multi-year, fans are hopeful she may take the CM Punk approach of leaving the company. What do you think of her run in AEW? Tell us in the comments.