The day began with me waking up at 6:00 am to clean my hotel room. Between all the travel and commitments, it looked like a tornado hit it, not the feng shui you want on the biggest wrestling day of the year. It makes things harder to find and more stressful. I also had my hair person en route to the room and didn’t want her to see the disarray. AEW actually flew a couple of my friends all the way from Florida to London on a very short visit just to deliver my hair and another my gear, as many were not completed till the last minute.
On our way to Wembley for All In, we gathered the fans outside the hotel to do a really fun TikTok that I can’t wait to edit and show.
On the van ride to the show, Team Moné was fully present, from Advocate Kev to Bodyguard Kamille. I tend to have butterflies on these rides and especially on rides to PPVs. But on this particular ride, we all had major butterflies. This is the AEW Superbowl after all. To break the tension, I always bring a portable blue tooth speaker and connect it to the car radio to play my favorite playlist. On this ride, Kev played our CEO entrance music, and we all took turns shouting the lyrics. It got the energy going and did the job to lighten the mood, too.
Yet, even with the support, when I got ready, I felt like I couldn’t find anything that I packed or put together. I felt like I was in the movie ‘The Borrowers’ where little people were stealing my things all day. It was nerve-wracking, but luckily, everything came together, and again, thanks to so many good people and friends who did their part.
Snowdon, Honey, and Jam were the name of the corgis who I shared my entrance carriage with. These were not just any corgis mind you, they were corgis from actual royal lineage. Snowdon, Honey and Jam were descendants of the Queen’s corgis (as in Queen Elizabeth). Like most corgis, they were so loving and connected. They hung in our dressing room all day and really added a lot of calm and love. Big shoutout to @corgis_of_eton! When I got to rehearse with the corgis in my carriage, I legit couldn’t stop smiling. I was so grateful to have my dream entrance. Last year, when I was in the stands watching All In, Kev and I discussed this very entrance—a royal carriage, guards, and corgis—and here we were. It was another pinch-me moment for sure.
I can’t talk about the day without mentioning a visit I received from my wrestling mother, Aja Kong. Aja came to me while I was in makeup up where she confided that she attended the event mainly to see me. To hear this from someone I admired and looked up to as much as Eddy G, made my heart soar. If I wasn’t inspired enough, Aja’s words put me over the edge for sure. PS, one of my dream matches is a battle against Aja herself one day. It’s on the bucket list for sure.
Let me say we had outstanding food and catering at All In. I’ve been complaining about the UK food all week, so to finally get some delicious food was a huge boost to the day. I have to give it to Tony on that one. He has all the UK hookups and really wanted to take care of the boys, girls, and crew.
For me, just being around all the boys and girls and crew this weekend and being part of such a momentous event felt incredible. At AEW, you can feel such a shift in energy and such transformation and elevation. I get chills knowing I’m part of it.
I’ve performed in stadium shows before, so I was expecting to hear mixed things from the crowd. In a stadium ring, it takes a while to hear crowd reactions. You have to wait for the sound to rise all the way up and then come back down. You have to take this into consideration to mentally prepare and adjust but it’s definitely a factor.
I’ve heard a lot of mixed reactions to my All In match with Britt. I had a really good time out there with her. I did sense some audience fatigue. It’s only natural being third to last, as the crowd had already seen over 10 matches before ours. They arrived at 5:30, and by the time we came out, it was around 9:00. That’s a long time but, at the same time, amazing because AEW really gave them their money’s worth. I could hear some DMD and CEO chants but again it’s harder in a stadium. Britt told me later, that on video you can hear crowd reactions much better and that there were more crowd reactions than we felt.
Is there anything I would have done differently? There is. Honestly, a lot. But I don’t ever want to go too deep into what ifs about my matches, or life for that matter. I’ll just say that I learned a lot from the match and can only grow by continuing to try new things. I maybe would have listened to my instincts more. I feel I did things that maybe were not necessarily required for that match: things I could have saved for another time. But again, little sense in looking too far back other than what we can learn and use moving forward. One thing is for sure, I can’t wait to do it all over again next year in Texas.
