It looks like Sasha Banks won’t be returning to the WWE any time soon as she debuted in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) as Mercedes Moné after she took out KAIRI.
She declared her intention to be the new CEO of NJPW’s women’s division and Stardom. She will also challenge KAIRI for her IWGP Women’s Championship at Battle in the Valley in San Jose, California on February 18.
Mercedes Moné (Sasha Banks) Thanks WWE and Vince McMahon After Snubbing Them for NJPW and Attacking KAIRI
While this was a great surprise for fans, it was preceded by news that she would appear there, but what she would do was left unsaid to hype the suspense.
She closed the segment out by proclaiming, “In San Jose, I’m gonna leave you bankrupt, b-tch. You can bank on Moné.”
IT’S MERCEDES MONÉ!@mercedesvarnado is in the Tokyo Dome!!!#wk17 #njpw pic.twitter.com/PD54lqLr1L
— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) January 4, 2023
Starting fresh
While her new career in NJPW begins, Mercedes didn’t seem to hold any grudges as she took to Twitter to thank the WWE, Triple H, William Regal, Vince McMahon, and more for her time with the company.
She worked in the WWE for ten years from 2012 to 2022 and had a meteoric rise to superstardom and her in ring skill and mic work is second to none.
She and Naomi left the WWE seven months ago after taking issue with the way they and the Women’s Tag Team Championship were being booked in a 6 pack challenge that would’ve had her and Naomi facing one another.
Thank you @WWE
— Mercedes Moné Varnado (@MercedesVarnado) January 4, 2023
Four days after they walked out of the WWE Raw backstage taping, Michael Cole announced on Smackdown that they were stripped of the tag titles and the championship went into limbo for a time.
There was a rumored tournament planned to name new champions, but it never got under way under Vince McMahon’s leadership, but Triple H made it happen after he took over WWE Creative.
Not closing a door
This doesn’t mean we won’t see her back in the WWE again, but for the foreseeable future it looks like she’s breaking away from the company that helped make her a star to establish herself elsewhere.
It’s something we’ve seen time and again, especially now that the WWE’s stranglehold on wrestling was broken with AEW’s creation in 2019 and the budget cuts McMahon made revitalized the Indies.
Wrestlers have options and it’s great to see her making the most out of her opportunities since leaving during Raw tapings.
To add some more intrigue, there were reports that Naomi was in Japan too, so it’s possible we’ll see them joining forced in NJPW at some point in the near future.
What do you think about Mercedes’ challenging KAIRI? Let us know in the comments below.
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