During a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Mercedes Mone opened up about the motivations behind launching her website and digital magazine.

Earlier this year, Mone debuted “Mone Mag” and also unveiled a new website, MercedesMone.com. According to her, the purpose of both ventures is to "control the narrative" and reclaim her voice.

Mone explained:

“This whole last two to three years, the internet, people just wanna create their own stories. Really [the website] was just to control the narrative and to get my voice back. Going on social media every single day and seeing these made-up stories… It’s like enough’s enough.”

She continued, “Oh, things don’t get to me at all anymore (laughs). I learned a long time ago to not let words affect me, because the internet used to affect me so much. Just the littlest things… would ruin my whole day.”

Mone added, “We have no idea who is on the other side of the keyboard. I don’t know if these are bots. I don’t know if it’s someone who looks like you. I don’t know if it’s a witch or rat or whoever, but at the end of the day I don’t care what you have to say about me.”

Mone is scheduled to defend her TBS Championship against Kris Statlander at AEW Full Gear on Saturday. She spoke about how she enjoys tailoring her moveset to her opponent’s strengths.

“I love training for my opponent. I love to try to create different moves and move sets that I can outdo their moves. I made sure I stepped into the ring for Kris Statlander because she is a legit powerhouse in this women’s division. And I definitely won’t take her lightly. My back still hurts from being thrown into the wall.”

Mone also discussed how facing larger, stronger opponents pushes her to be more agile and creative in the ring.

“I become more agile. I become faster… because I have to think about how and what am I gonna do to take down these bigger opponents. How much faster do I have to be? Do I have to climb to the top rope to jump on them? Do I have to take out a knee, an ankle? I have such amazing matches with stronger people and people who are bigger than me because I love doing high flying stuff. I love when I can have a good base to try out these cool new moves that I have imagined in my head.”

Tonight will mark Mone’s tenth match in AEW. She currently holds an undefeated 10-0 record, having won the TBS title in her debut match and successfully defended it nine times since.

For the TBS Championship!
Mercedes Moné (c) vs. Kris Statlander

TBS Champion @MercedesVarnado will defend the title against former champ @callmekrisstat at #AEWFullGear THIS SATURDAY LIVE on PPV from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ!https://t.co/JlBXZPMlvR pic.twitter.com/mTw2AlLYEc

, All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) November 20, 2024