After tons of rumors and speculation regarding her pro wrestling future, Mercedes Moné made her AEW debut on the Big Business edition of Dynamite in her hometown of Boston on Wednesday.

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Mercedes Moné is here!<br><br>Watch <a href="">#AEWDynamite</a> <a href="">#AEWBigBusiness</a> LIVE on TBS!<a href="">@MercedesVarnado</a> <a href="">

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Moné rolled up to TD Garden in a Mercedes-Maybach before opening the show to a thunderous ovation. She got on the mic as fans showered her with "CEO" and "welcome home" chants.

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Moné thanked fans for having her back over the past two years, giving her the strength to be there and sticking with her through the highs and lows.

She also got down to some business, however, calling out Willow Nightengale, who beat her for the NJPW STRONG Women's Champion belt last May. Moné then announced that Nightengale would face Riho in that evening's main event.

Moné's evening wasn't over, however. Willow Nightengale defeated Riho to cap the night, but TBS title holder Julia Hart and Skye Blue attacked the victor, who has her sights set on the champion's belt.

Moné then made a big save, knocking out Blue in the aisle before taking out Hart:

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Mercedes then raised Willow's hand in victory before the show went full circle, with her in the ring by herself in front of the cheering hometown crowd.

Going by the name Sasha Banks, Mercedes rose to prominence with WWE from 2012 through 2022, but Moné disappeared from WWE programming in May 2022 after she and her tag team partner, Naomi, walked out prior to an episode of Raw.

According to Fightful Select (h/t WrestlingInc's Sai Mohan), Moné and Naomi weren't pleased with how they were being booked as WWE women's tag team champions, so they left the building prior to their scheduled participation in a Six-Pack Challenge to determine the No. 1 contender for the Raw Women's Championship.

Moné and Naomi were suspended indefinitely and stripped of their titles by WWE, and they did not make any WWE-related appearances for the rest of the year.

Mercedes ended her pro wrestling hiatus on Jan. 4, 2023, when she showed up at New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom 17 to confront IWGP women's champion Kairi.

Going by her new Mercedes Moné ring name, she attacked Kairi, and she went on to beat Kairi for the title at Battle in the Valley in February 2023.

Mercedes' title reign was fairly short-lived, as she dropped the championship to Mayu Iwatani in April 2023.

The following month, Mercedes suffered an ankle injury in a match against Willow Nightengale, causing her to miss the next several months of action. During that time, her NJPW contract expired, and there were rumors and speculation regarding her either returning to WWE or joining AEW.

Those rumors ramped up in August when she was shown in the crowd during AEW's All In pay-per-view at Wembley Stadium in London.

Nothing immediately came of the appearance, and there was a time when it looked like she may not go to AEW, as Fightful (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News) reported in December that there were no longer "working plans" for her to debut in AEW.

In a follow-up, Fightful (h/t Upton) reported that Mercedes had been talking with WWE about a return, but the talks broke down, which put AEW back in the mix.

Now that the five-time Raw women's champion, one-time SmackDown women's champion and one-time NXT women's champion has made her AEW debut, Mercedes is instantly the biggest female star AEW has ever had, and she could potentially take the women's division to new heights.

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