Backstage WWE and AEW Rumors: Latest on Mercedes Moné, Brian Pillman Jr. and More

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Mercedes Moné left social media buzzing after her appearance in the crowd at All In at Wembley Stadium in London, as fans questioned what it meant for the possibility of her either joining All Elite Wrestling or making appearances against the promotion's top women.

A new report has shed some light on her potential relationship with Tony Khan's promotion.

Joining Moné in this collection of wrestling rumors is the latest on Brian Pillman Jr.'s WWE status, what the recent drama behind the scenes in AEW meant for Ricky Starks, and a potential under-the-radar signing pulled off by WWE last year.

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Mercedes Moné appeared among the crowd at the All In pay-per-view Sunday.

And Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com reported that the former Sasha Banks will be making appearances for AEW once she is cleared to compete.

According to the article, she would have already appeared for the company had she been healed from her ankle injury in time for Blood & Guts at Boston's TD Garden on July 19.

Moné suffered an ankle injury during the finals of the NJPW Strong Women's Championship tournament against Willow Nightingale in May and has not competed since.

One of the biggest stars in professional wrestling, it is somewhat surprising that the 31-year-old has not already signed with AEW, but freedom in her contract has been important to her and allowed her to fulfill a lifelong dream of competing in Japan.

It remains to be seen if she would be willing to sign on the dotted line or keep her options open instead, making appearances here and there for AEW rather than committing for the long term.

Considering how in-demand she will be once she is able to compete again, even getting her to work on occasion with the top stars in the women's division will be a coup for AEW.

Whether it can capitalize on her star power and put some effort into its women's division is another question.

Johnson also reported that Brian Pillman Jr. has signed with WWE and officially started at the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

Pillman previously competed for AEW, where he was one-half of the Varsity Blonds tag team with Griff Garrison. Despite having tremendous upside and being the son of one of the most influential stars of the 1990s (the late "Flyin'" Brian Pillman), he was never able to gain traction or the full support of management and appeared inconsistently on television.

Now, the 29-year-old will have a second chance at success on a national scale as he competes for the company where his father made his name.

If there is one thing WWE does extremely well, it's recognizing the lineage of its legacy wrestlers and selling it to the crowd. It owns all of the prominent Pillman footage and will do a better job of introducing Junior to the masses in a meaningful way.

He will also get all of the prep time necessary in the Performance Center without being hastily thrown onto television.

The report stated there is "no rush" to call Pillman up, and WWE instead wants him to find his feet first.

The issues that occurred at All In between CM Punk, Jack Perry and AEW management may have affected one of the top young stars on the roster more than anyone, according to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select.

Ricky Starks was discussed for a big match at All Out this Sunday. The match would be for Punk's "Real" World's Championship and was considered to main-event the show.

Now, with Punk suspended and considerable uncertainty surrounding the top of the card, Tony Khan has taken to advertising a potential showdown between Starks and 70-year-old Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat in a Leather Strap match.

Steamboat last worked a match on a big stage in 2009, when he feuded with Chris Jericho and worked some house shows for WWE against a young Drew McIntyre.

He was extraordinary in those outings but that was well over a decade ago and asking him to get in the ring with a young, main event-worthy star in his prime is likely unfair at this point.

It could all be a red herring, with Khan figuring something else out on the fly, but it is interesting that he would even hint at the possibility if that wasn't the direction he was leaning toward.

Should it come to fruition, it is a great opportunity for Starks to learn from one of the masters of the mat, but one can't help but be disappointed for him as All Out should have been one of the defining moments in his career.

Sapp also reported that WWE may have secretly signed Akam and Rezar, known during their previous stint with the company as the Authors of Pain, to contracts in 2022.

"Several sources have told Fightful that months after our initial report, that AOP/Authors of Pain/Legion of Pain have actually been under contract with WWE since 2022, though we haven't confirmed as much," Sapp wrote.

He added: "Specifically we were told 'it was before Vince McMahon came back, because that put a halt on all signings besides new recruits.' There have been some signings in recent months, however."

The duo of bruisers was one of the most dominant tag teams in NXT history under Triple H but failed to make the same sort of impact after their main roster call-up.

If the report is accurate, there is reason to believe they will fare better than that first run, thanks to Triple H's role as chief content officer and a tag team division in better shape than it was during their first stint on Raw.

Whether they have retained what they learned prior to their release in September 2020 is the question.