AEW TBS Champion and NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Mercedes Moné took to her Mone Bag fan newsletter to discuss a number of topics, including traditions newbies are expected to follow in wrestling.
Moné said, “The thing about being a wrestle newbie is that you more or less need to be doing everything to support the vets and the show. You try to offer to pay for gas and even hotels, and you do things like drive the veterans the entire way. It’s more or less a rite of passage — or at least it was. These [wrestling] traditions are unwritten and have been passed down from veterans through the decades.”
On what she learned from Tamina Snuka:
“She taught me to always pay it forward — and to pay it forward with kindness. I’m not sure how many wrestling veterans passed those sentiments down, but Tamina sure did. She was so unique that she, ‘the veteran’ actually paid for me, ‘the newbie.’ I remember her covering my hotel because even though I was an NXT Superstar. I didn’t have the money! I’ll always be grateful for that and the lessons.”
