Sasha Banks is set to appear at a major professional wrestling event next month. According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, Banks (real name Mercedes Varnado) is expected to be at New Japan’s Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 17 in January. It’s not known if the WWE Superstar will appear before a live crowd, but Johnson says the wrestling promotion is bringing her to the event.
Banks has not wrestled since she and Naomi (real name Trinity Fatu) walked out on WWE in May, which led to both of them being suspended indefinitely. As mentioned by Fightful Select, WrestleCade attempted to book Banks for their Thanksgiving weekend event, but it was learned that Banks isn’t taking wrestling bookings until Jan. 1. Fighful Select also says that multiple promotions have asked about Banks’ status about making an appearance. The outlet asked about her status in WWE as she has been seen on promotions for the USA Network series Barmageddon. As of this writing, there is no update on Banks’ status with WWE. But wrestlers at All Elite Wrestling (AEW) are excited about Banks possibly coming in as she could make an appearance at a show.
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In September, Banks appeared on the Ahch-To Radio podcast and gave an update on her future in professional wrestling and in Hollywood. “There is so much that I’m kind of creating right now that’s all under an umbrella,” Banks said of her work, per PWTorch. “I’m an actor, writer, model, producer, extraordinaire entertainer. So, all within those realms, I’m doing something, so you’ll just have to stay tuned.”
Banks also talked about the difference between wrestling and acting. “We’re always portraying different characters in every given moment of our time,” she said. “For me, it’s really just owning my own IP and owning the character behind the character, and really defining who’s the character that’s playing the character, so it’s really just finding yourself.”
Banks, 30, began her WWE career in 2012 and has worked to become one of the top Superstars in WWE. She has won the NXT Women’s Championship, the Raw Women’s Championship five times, the SmackDown Women’s Championship and the Women’s Tag Team Championship three times. Banks is the fourth Women’s Triple Crown Champion and third Women’s Grand Slam Champion in WWE history.
