Sasha Banks Now Commands $25,000 Per Appearance After WWE Exit

Mercedes Mone is doing what a lot of wrestlers say they want to do after WWE: she left, bet on herself, and leveled up. Now there is a number attached to that aura, and it is making indie promoters and fans argue in the replies.

The $25K number everyone is talking about

Per Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Mercedes Mone is quoting $25,000 for an appearance. One independent promoter who reached out about booking her says they were told exactly that price, and that figure started making the rounds online on October 24, 2025.

Meltzer also framed it as a big ask by current standards. He pointed at CMLL, a major promotion Mone has worked with, and said even there the highest-paid wrestler is around $5,000 for a single talent. He added another wrinkle: she may not be sticking that $25K tag on every inquiry, and could be using it as a polite no to promotions she does not really want to work for. That last part came via Slam Wrestling.

So is she price-gouging, or just setting her market?

Depends who you ask. The minute the number hit social, her critics dusted off the greatest hits: calling her a shark, saying she swoops into an indie, grabs a belt, does not promote the company, and then never defends the title. The discourse got extra spicy because an older comment from AEW boss Tony Khan resurfaced the same day.

'She is not hungry for money; she wrestles all over the world for the love of the game.'

Plenty of people dunked on that as 'aged like milk' once the $25K figure popped. On the flip side, a lot of fans defended her rate, arguing she is a proven draw who could probably ask for more, and they pushed back on the idea she is ghosting companies after winning their belts.

The receipts: recent defenses and actual promotion

If you want examples, there are some easy ones. On October 17, 2025, Mone defended the CMLL World Women's Championship against Persephone and retained. She also issued an open challenge for her Bestya Women's Championship, which is an indie title out of Italy. Bestya said her title win there pulled more than 4 million views online in its first 24 hours. That is exactly the kind of visibility small promotions hope for when they bring in a name.

Where Mercedes Mone is right now

Quick refresher: Mone left WWE in May 2022, turned up across AEW and a bunch of international promotions, and has been racking up hardware. The career tally floating around now is 12 different world titles across various companies. In October 2025 alone, she picked up three new belts. And as of right now, she is holding a lot at once.

• AEW Women's TBS Championship: her first run with the belt, and she recently passed Jade Cargill's mark to become the longest-reigning TBS champ
• Bestya Women's Championship: from the Italian promotion of the same name; also the title she put an open challenge on
• CMLL World Women's Championship: defended on October 17, 2025 vs. Persephone
• Bodyslam Women's Championship
• ROH Interim Women's World Television Championship
• WPW (Winnipeg Pro Wrestling) Women's Championship

If you are counting and getting different totals depending on which belts you track, you are not alone. The bottom line: she grabbed three in October and is currently loaded up with multiple titles across AEW, Mexico, Europe, and Canada.

The next target: AEW Women's World Title

Mone and Kris Statlander had a staredown at AEW WrestleDream 2025, and that set up Statlander vs. Mone at Full Gear on Saturday, 11/22, at 8pm ET/5pm PT. Statlander has been talking up how she is not the same wrestler Mone faced last year, and she is putting the AEW Women's World Title on the line.

If Mone wins, she is stacking yet another top title on an already crowded shelf. Whether you think $25K is steep or simply the going rate for someone who moves tickets and views, she is clearly operating at a premium level right now.