WWE's Angelo Dawkins Reflects on Working With Mercedes Moné During Early NXT Days

Dawkins was once paired with Moné in WWE developmental.

By Liam Crowley

Angelo Dawkins has seen nothing but success since linking up with Montez Ford. The two began tagging together on the NXT live event circuit in 2016 and officially debuted on NXT TV the following year as the Street Profits. Together, Dawkins and Ford established themselves as one of the black and gold brand's most popular acts, eventually ascending to become NXT Tag Team Champions in 2019. That reign would only last a recognized 88 days as the Street Profits were main roster bound by that fall. Within the next calendar year, Dawkins and Ford had captured the top tag prize on both WWE Monday Night Raw and WWE SmackDown.

While the duo seem to have everything figured out today, it was a long journey finding their identities. This was the case for Dawkins especially, as he cycled through gimmicks for four years before finding himself with the Street Profits.

One of those gimmicks was as a "hype man" for blossoming star Sasha Banks. Banks would make her way to NXT TV and cement herself as a cornerstone of the entire company's women's division, capturing every title within WWE before exiting in 2022.

ANGELO-DAWKINS-SASHA-BANKS-WWE-NXT-MERCEDES-MONE-AEW
(Photo: WWE)

"Yeah, a little bit," Dawkins told ComicBook when asked if he still sees traces of his and Banks's early selves into the Angelo Dawkins and Mercedes Moné of 2024. "Obviously you still keep stuff that you've done when you first started, especially when you start to find yourself a little bit more. You go back to the well a little bit. 'Oh, I did this. I'm going to tweak it a little bit, but I'm going to still keep it like that in a way.' I see it a little bit."

Both Dawkins and Banks are largely different competitors today than who they were a decade prior. Banks, now wrestling as Mercedes Moné for AEW, still retains much of "The Boss" from the developmental days but has evolved the character into being a "CEO."

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"Dog, I keep forgetting about them days. I be seeing some of those promos pop up randomly on Twitter," Dawkins continued. "Now it's just like, 'Oh snap. Dang, I forgot. I definitely did do that (laughs).'"

Dawkins most recently competed on this past Friday's WWE SmackDown, falling to Tama Tonga in a first round King of the Ring match. Moné is set to challenge for the AEW TBS Championship on Sunday, May 26th at AEW Double or Nothing.

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