Lacey Lane vs. Mercedes Mone

[4.0] "This was not good, it was nice to see Lacey, but these two just didn't have any chemistry. Easily one of Mercedes worst matches in a while. (2.25*)"

[8.0] "I have loved the Lacey's work since first watching her in NXT and even then you could tell that she could make a very effective singles wrestler as she has a fun fairly innovative offensive repertoire and I know she is somebody Mercedes wanted to work with ever since calling her out when she and Naomi were tag team champions in a press conference saying she knew how hard Lacey and Kacy worked and wanted to defend the titles against them which they never got the opportunity. I would like to see another match between them maybe in Ring of Honor as I thought this was good but I think they can even do better the next go round. I would venture to say Lacey is better in the ring than a fair amount of the women working AEW television regularly now as she's got a ton of experience and is a hell of an athlete with an interesting look. I definitely want to see another match between these two somewhere down the line."

[4.0] "Why the hell was that even a mystery? lol. Action was underwhelming and they were moving almost in slow motion."

[4.0] "[2.0*] I didn't know who Lacey Lane was at first and then I was "ohh, she was a part of that WWE tag, okay! ". I don't think Tony was on his senses when he thought this was going to be a worthy surprise for the AEW audience. She had absolutely no reaction. It seemed like a move TK would pull in like 2023 when he was trying to be WWE 2.0. Your audience isn't the same as theirs, my man. Your fanbase doesn't care about a smackdown tag team wrestler. Match had zero vibes and didn't feel important at all. A waste of a surprise for Mercedes."

[6.0] "Yeah this was a pretty solid match with another great showing from Mercedes as always. But this match was pretty pointless at the end of the day as Mercedes being at day 499 of her title reign under 10 days of breaking the record for longest TBS reign there was zero chance she was losing it in an open challenge to a free lance talent. I guess this is a carry over story due to the Indie bookings she has taken meaning she won't be at wrestledream so they are just doing matches to tick over before they start building up a feud to take her to the end of 2025. I will say i thought Lacey had a pretty solid showing can't say i ever watched her wrestle when she was Kaden carter but i thought she looked solid. Overall this was what you expect from an open challenge showcase match with a nice clean shorter match that was well worked with no botches. (***)"

[7.0] "This was a good showcase for Lacey Lane, someone I hope sticks around in AEW for the incoming tag division. Mercedes did what she does best and bumped her ass off to make her opponent look good."

[6.0] "This match was fine, Lacey had a pretty decent showing but it's never a good sign when your mystery opponent comes out to crickets. Surely this time would have been much better spent on building up a match with Willow, Aminata or Hayter at Wrestledream so they can finally get the belt off Mone, who really doesn't need it."

[5.0] "Kayden Carter of WWE has arrived at All Elite. I think she would be a great addition to the AEW TBS Division. But it was shocking to see her debut without Kacy Ihope. She comes in the future, they would help the new start-up AEW Women's Tag Team Division. But this match was average, but Mercedes Mone continues her reign of supremacy as she retains her AEW TBS Title, but I'm happy seeing Lacey Lane again. She was underutilized in WWE, and I hope in AEW, if she did in fact sign with the company, be used in a better way, especially in the Women's Tag Division if Kacy comes along the way in the future."

[7.0] "This comment section is prob biased toward women cuz this was a MUCH better match than I was expecting with lots of cool fluid spots and sequences. The way it was implied the crowd is dead when they been most of the show, but Lacey Lane got more reaction here than Kyle vs Kyle 2 as a whole the crowd was not reacting at all there. This was a fun quick title defense and yes I would love more substance and heat within Mercedes's title run, but for the time being I really enjoy Lacey here and hope she make her way towards the tag team division with Kacy!"

[3.0] "This tbs title run has been running on fumes for a long while so it doesn't surprise me to see these underwhelming showcases and unlike the ppv matches this didn't have the in ring quality to paper over the cracks. Other than dragging this reigns across the finish line so she could beat the meaningless record there is no point to it anymore so they're just spinning their wheels until we get there. The reign has been boring and underwhelming, especially recently, just like how this match was."

[6.0] "No suspense, but a match that really showcased Lacy Lane. To the point that I found Mercedes really understated in the fight, which is a bit of a negative. In-ring quality: 1.75/4. Stakes: 1.75/2. Justification: 1/1. Placement on the card: 0.75/1. Suspense: 0/1. Bonuses/penalties: none. Total: 6.25/10. Match seen on Triller TV."

[5.0] "A pretty disappointing match by Mercedes standards. This wasnt bad, but most of the action here was painfully average. Mercedes does her best to make her opponent look as good as possible but nothing that these two did here really drew me in. Fine for the most part, but entirely skippable. **1/2"

[6.0] "The fight was a mixed bag, but overall it left a positive impression. Technically, Mercedes remains impeccable: her pace, distance, and precision in her movements are all at a very high level. There were some high-quality sequences, especially when she took the action to the ground and applied her Moné Maker with near-perfect execution. Furthermore, her stage presence remains imposing; every gesture, every pause, everything conveys that she's a superstar. However, the fight didn't fully ignite the crowd. Lacey Lane, despite a decent debut, seemed somewhat stiff in some exchanges, which affected the natural flow of the match. It lacked the chemistry that turns a good fight into a memorable one. In short, it was a decent defense, with flashes of brilliance and solid technical execution, but lacked the emotional spark that usually accompanies Mercedes Moné's great moments. She delivered, she shone at times, but she didn't fully explode as she could have. 6/10."

[6.0] "[3 Stars] Lane's arrival was a big letdown, but on the other hand, she didn't have bad chemistry with Mone. I'm not opposed to the idea of seeing a more polished 1v1 in the future."

[6.0] "This match was okay, Lacey put on a good effort showing off her striking skills and athleticism. Mercedes did her usual offense, but the slow pacing and lack of high impact moves made the match feel slightly dull and it was obvious who would win too. I also can't help but feel that Lacey feels less important without Katana Chance, but oh well. AEW has a habit of hiring well known free agents only to use them one time or very rarely (Hi Isla Dawn) so we likely won't see much of her in the future anyway."

[7.0] "You'd never know it by the crowd sitting on their hands but this was a good match. Nothing special but a good back and forth. The outcome was never in doubt and fans got themselves all worked up because they assumed it was going to be Izzy but fantasy booking is a you problem."

[5.0] "Mercedes is always good or better in the ring but I truly don't care for Lacey Lane. This was a decent match, maybe a tad better than I expected but, Lane got in way too much offense for both someone of their caliber and their status of their opponent. Shave 3-4 mins off this, and I'd have enjoyed it more."

[4.0] "I'm a huge Mercedes fan and i'm going to be honest, i did not enjoy this match at all. Lacey Lane being the challenger was unexpected from my end even though she is from Florida, where the event has taken place, and she was not bad at all, i could actually see her trying her best (even if that's still not saying a lot sorry) but there was something about mercedes today that i didn't really understand, it's like she couldn't be bothered to wrestle at all, having miscomunications over and over again and feeling so slow and sloppy."

[7.0] "I thought this was a good title defence, the main issue like all the defences for the last bit was that it was obvious Mercedes was going to retain, after a certain point it was clear Mercedes was going to break the TBS Title record, and especially now she is so close, and especially since Jade is gone, and left with a bit of a cloud over her. Still this was a good match, there was a bit of the issue where NXT women tend to wrestle a bit slow (especially the spot monkeys), but she wasn't too bad for this, and was compelling, I don't think she will be a favourite, but Lacey Lane looked good here, and is a good addition to the roster."

[6.0] "This one was okay. I feel like you could tell that Mercedes really wanted to ensure she had a good showing and she looked good. That being said, if you watch it in post, I feel like you could probably skip this one unless you are a big fan of both."