For a long time, Red Velvet was best known for being part of Shaquille O’Neal’s famous 2021 “AEW Dynamite” match. After Ring of Honor Final Battle this past weekend, however, Velvet will now be known as one of only three women to defeat Mercedes Mone in the last two years. In what was considered an upset, Velvet reversed out of a submission in order to pin Mone, re-capturing the ROH Women’s Television Championship, and avenging her title loss to Mone just weeks earlier on “AEW Dynamite.”
At the post-Final Battle media scrum, Velvet reflected on her triumph. Though Velvet admitted she tuned out a lot of the noise once the match began, she also made clear that she was motivated not only to prove she could beat Mone following their previous match, but to prove those wrong who believed she had no chance of victory.
“I feel like a lot of people were really like ‘Oh, she’s not going to do it. She’s not going to do it,'” Velvet said. “And I said it. I said it two weeks ago in my kitchen before Boston, like ‘Cool. I’ll be the underdog. I’ll be the one that nobody believes.’ But I was like ‘I’m going to beat your ass. And I’m going to beat you. And I’m going to take back what’s mine.’
“I hold this title very near and dear to my heart. Second ever [champion], first ever Afro-Latina holding it, 481 days. Like, I learned so much about myself just carrying this title. And I respect Ring of Honor, and I hope to continue to help grow the division and help the women, and just inspire people. Whoever wants to come for it, I invite them for it. She gave me a run for my money, and honestly, the loss shook me. But I was like ‘Everything happens for a reason. So either you stay down or you get back up. And you keep on going.'”
