Mercedes Moné Rips WWE Rumors; Latest Buzz on LA Knight, Cody Rhodes, Michael Cole

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

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Mercedes Seemingly Denies Reason for Leaving WWE

Mercedes Moné shot down a long-held assumption over her WWE departure while addressing a fan over the weekend.

The former Sasha Banks took part in an autograph signing and meet-and-greet at New York Comic Con, and when one fan said she left WWE due to creative issues, Mercedes appeared to deny that was the case:

Mercedes asked, "Is that the reason," when the fan mentioned creative differences being the impetus behind her leaving WWE, before adding, "That's what you read, but you weren't there. Ha ha, so no."

The fan pressed Mercedes to give the real reason, but she suggested that everyone will have to wait for her to tell her story in a book and an interview. The New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Stardom performer then told the fan, "Keep on reading your fiction books."

As Sasha Banks, Mercedes was contracted to WWE from 2012 until the start of this year when she left to sign with NJPW.

Her final on-screen appearance for WWE came in May 2022, as she and tag team partner Naomi reportedly walked out before or during the May 16, 2022, episode of Raw.

Mercedes and Naomi, who now competes as Trinity in Impact Wrestling, were WWE women's tag team champions at the time, but they were advertised to compete in a multi-woman match that night to determine the No. 1 contender for the Raw Women's Championship.

PWInsider.com's Mike Johnson was one of multiple pro wrestling journalists to report that a creative issue led to both Mercedes and Trinity walking out that not.

Per Johnson, Mercedes expressed concerns about the creative direction, and after then-WWE CEO, chairman and head of creative met with her and declined to change the plan, Mercedes left and Trinity went with her.

WWE later released a strongly worded statement regarding Mercedes and Trinity, claiming that they said they were "uncomfortable in the ring with two of their opponents even though they'd had matches with those individuals in the past with no consequence," and left their title belts before leaving the building.

Mercedes and Trinity were later suspended and stripped of the titles, and WWE announcer Michael Cole was tasked with labeling their conduct as "unprofessional" while addressing the WWE Universe.

After that, Mercedes and Trinity never showed up on WWE TV again, but they have both gone on to win championship gold in their respective new promotions.

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Rhodes Reportedly Ticketed for Big WrestleMania 40; Knight Could Play Spoiler

WWE is reportedly planning for Cody Rhodes to be a headliner at WrestleMania 40 next year, although LA Knight has an outside chance to factor into the mix as well.

According to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, WrestleMania 40 "belongs" to Rhodes unless "the situation changes dramatically."

Barrasso noted in the report that Knight is perhaps the only Superstar who has any chance to supplant Rhodes in a WrestleMania main event spot, but it would require a "Becky Lynch/Daniel Bryan-type of groundswell of support" for that to happen.

As it stands, Knight is reportedly positioned as a "building block" to get undisputed WWE universal champion Roman Reigns to WrestleMania.

At WrestleMania 39 earlier this year, Rhodes faced Reigns in the main event of Night 1 after winning the men's Royal Rumble match.

It was widely expected that Rhodes would end Reigns' lengthy run as world champion and "finish the story" by taking the top prize in pro wrestling, but the WWE creative team had other ideas, as Solo Sikoa interfered and helped Reigns retain.

Rhodes has largely been kept away from Reigns since then, but the WrestleMania picture has come into focus recently, as Rhodes brokered former Bloodline member Jey Uso's trade from SmackDown to Raw.

Cody and Jey went on to win the WWE Tag Team Championships, which allowed them to appear on Raw and SmackDown, and Rhodes came face to face with Reigns on last week's episode of SmackDown.

Although Rhodes and Uso dropped the titles back to The Judgment Day on Monday night's episode of Raw, the seeds have been planted for The American Nightmare to get back at The Tribal Chief.

While Rhodes remains hugely popular, Knight is arguably the hottest commodity in WWE right now, which is why he had a big-time promo segment with Reigns on SmackDown.

WWE seems to be building toward Reigns vs. Knight at next month's Crown Jewel premium live event, and if that happens, the expectation is that Reigns will win.

Facing Reigns could be viewed as a test for Knight, though, and if he passes with flying colors and becomes even more popular because of it, it may be tough for WWE to deny him a spot at or near the top of the WrestleMania card.

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Cole Reportedly Missed Raw Due to Personal Commitment

Michael Cole was not present to provide commentary on Monday night's episode of Raw, but it was reportedly a planned absence.

According to Johnson, Cole requested the week off "some time ago" so that he could satisfy a "personal commitment."

Johnson also reported that Kevin Patrick had been slated to serve as Cole's fill-in for "many weeks."

For the past few months, Cole has been the voice of both Raw and SmackDown. On Raw, he anchors a two-man commentary team with Wade Barrett, while he is part of a three-man booth with Patrick and Corey Graves on SmackDown.

WWE had been running with a pair of two-man booths, but the decision was made to add Cole to Patrick and Graves, presumably in an effort to take some play-by-play pressure of Patrick and give him the opportunity to learn from a veteran like Cole.

On Raw, Patrick took over play-by-play duties alongside Barrett, and they called what was a newsworthy episode of Raw.

WWE billed it as the "season premiere" of Raw, and plenty of major happenings highlighted the show, including Damian Priest and Finn Balor beating Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso for for the WWE Tag Team Championships in the main event.

While Cole was not on hand to call the title change, he is expected back in his usual spot on Raw next week, per Johnson.

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