The CEO of AEW Mercedes Moné finally made her AEW return on the June 3rd episode of Dynamite as the wildcard in the Owen Hart Tournament. Moné was gone from AEW for five months which led to many people speculating in that time that her status in wrestling and the comynpny itself but Moné cleared the air on her absence.

The CEO published a new edition of the Moné Mag this past week and in it, she cleared the air about all of the rumors on why she hadn’t been on AEW TV in the first 5 months of 2026.

“I’m back and I feel better than ever. Almost 6 months away. I’ve never had a break that long that wasn’t due to injury and after 16 years it was the first time I got to truly relax and have no worries. But one thing I realized during that time away? I missed wrestling so much. Especially that AEW.While I was gone I saw all the rumors.‘Oh she’s pregnant.’ ‘Oh contract issues.’‘Oh she’s leaving.’‘Oh this.’‘Oh that.’Oh…NOTHING. Can I enjoy my vacation in peace? Can a woman have a period and be bloated? Can I enjoy my time off without speculation and rumors? One thing I also learned is there’s nobody more impatient than wrestling fans. Y’all are the type of people who look up the ending of a movie before finishing it. You love not being surprised. You love not being present and fully in the moment because you’re so caught up in the fantasy.”

In those 5 months off AEW TV, Moné dropped all of her titles that she won on the independent scene and in CMLL. Moné also attended the premiere for The Mandalorian and Grogu after having appeared in seasons 2 and 3 of the Disney Plus show The Mandalorian. The CEO defeated Alex Windsor in the first round of the Owen Hart Tournament and will now face Hazuki in the semifinals.