When the news broke that Sasha Banks and Naomi stormed out of the WWE, I thought it was all a work (read: wrestling speak for scripted). Usually if it’s ever mentioned on the air, it is done so deliberately, but in the ever-shifting and moving machine that is the professional wrestling industry, it turned out to be something a little more real, regardless of the fact that they had acknowledged it on the air.
Long story short, the two of them walked out citing poor opportunities and just generally disagreeing with how Creative was going to be using them for the foreseeable future. And although it was never confirmed, and probably will never be admitted, the whole thing really sounds more like it echoes the beliefs of Sasha Banks than it does Naomi.
Naomi had been around long enough to have eaten her fair share of shit sandwiches and understand that everyone in history is going to have to deal with them on the menu from time to time, but Sasha on the other hand had already walked out once, on her own, stating a convoluted burnout excuse before, so it didn’t seem far-fetched for someone like me to think that it was happening again, but with an accomplice.
As time passed and news and the rumor mill churned, the general sentiment was that Sasha left because she didn’t think the company was taking the women’s division seriously, regardless of the evolutions and revolutions they’ve spouted throughout the last decade. Frankly, I thought she was just salty over not being in a world title storyline, because it very much seemed like with her, she’s either in a world title picture, or she’s walked out; she hasn’t been around long enough for her history to show too contrary to this logic.
Eventually, when old man Vince stepped down and Triple H basically took over operations, there was a lot of speculation that Sasha would be back, because Trips didn’t waste much time undoing a lot of the bad for business choices that Vince had made over the last year. But then there still was no Sasha, or Naomi for that matter.
Eventually, news broke that Mercedes Varnado was going to be appearing at New Japan’s Wrestle Kingdom 17; confirming that there really was a separation between Sasha and the WWE. Further news revealed that during attempts to renegotiate a return, Sasha wanted Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch money, and the WWE was unwilling to acquiesce, and therefore Mercedes decided to take her talents elsewhere.
Here’s the thing though about the wrestling industry, especially in the WWE: this is a narrative that is hardly unique to Sasha Banks, and I think too many people are getting clouded by gender and the manner in which she ceased to be on television. Respect and treatment of women’s wrestling aside, when it came time to come back, it fell through, due to money. The WWE felt that Sasha Banks wasn’t worth the money she was asking for, so Sasha Banks formally left the company, and took her trade somewhere else.
It’s not personal, it’s simply a disagreement of value. With the ball now in Mercedes Varnado’s court, she went to New Japan because she and her husband are pretty well known to be weebs, and they we were willing to pay her massive amounts of money per appearance, closer to what she was hoping to make.
And the thing is, if Mercedes succeeds on winning the bet she placed on herself, then the WWE would without any hesitation, bring Sasha Banks back into the family, pay her what she thinks she’s worth and probably push her to the moon because they don’t believe in the sunk cost fallacy and high salaries equal top of the card. Everyone wins.
This is a career path that many have embarked on, with some enjoying great success. Drew MacIntyre, Cody Rhodes are good examples of guys who proved themselves outside of the company before coming home. Bobby Lashley and Jinder Mahal are also guys who have enjoyed success after long departures from the company, and as Mahal once stated, the door is never closed, and as long as you’re out there working, the possibility of return is always an option.
But until that happens, the newly christened Mercedes Mone has a long road ahead of her to prove her worth. And in spite of the critical analysis of her career, I am a fan of hers, because she’s an amazing worker who legitimately carry a women’s division, and would like to see her succeed. It’s just that I don’t necessarily agree with her business conduct, and feel there are more professional ways to accomplish her obvious goals without having to resort to walkouts.
If I’m a betting man, I anticipate Mercedes back in the WWE by next year. Possibly as a surprise entrant in the 2024 Royal Rumble, but more likely to be returning on the RAW after Wrestlemania next year.
Until then, Mone is going to make her Money in NJPW for as long as they’re willing to pay her, her per-appearance deal, which will be pretty substantial, because she will likely win the IWGP Women’s Championship from Kairi, and have a few successful defenses, before she will be expected to drop it to the next up-and-coming Joshi superstar before departing.
I do think she ends up in AEW at some point this year, because her New Japan deal isn’t going to last forever, and she’ll need to be on television somewhere in order to keep her value up. Not to mention, if her first appearance at Wrestle Kingdom is any indication, she’s going to get a wakeup call to just how different things are in a different company in a different country, real fast. I mean seriously, the fact that their microphones had an echo threw her off, and she didn’t seem to react well to the atypical Japanese crowd reactions or lack thereof. And in the post-match media scrums, there was a lot of uncomfortable silences with nobody knowing what to say to her, and her having no idea of what to say to fill the quiet.
Unless she full-ass leaves wrestling outright to go be in Mandalorian spinoffs, she needs to stay on television in order to remain a commodity, plus there’s no denying that AEW will pay her a ridiculous amount to come to them.
But if Mercedes is smart, she won’t sign anything too long term, because although the money would be nice, Tony Khan can’t book anything beyond a month. Mercedes Mone would drop in AEW to a massive reaction, get into a feud with either Britt Baker or Jade Cargill, but once that’s over, she’s on Dark: Elevation, wrestling against Emi Sakurai.
Which sets the timeline convenient to where in 2024, Sasha Banks can make a triumphant return to the WWE, where she’ll immediately be thrust into a world title program, and hopefully be happy again for another year until she has to drop it and then walks out on the company again when she’ll be expected to work with Cora Jade or Io Shirai and take a loss.
But at least she’ll have working formula to keep herself fluid and able to always be at the top of a card somewhere.
