All Elite Wrestling fans keep hoping that Mercedes Varnado, who wrestled in WWE as Sasha Banks, will eventually pop up on AEW television. Speculation about her being Saraya's mystery tag-team partner for a January 11 episode of Dynamite continues to build. So much so that she had to address the rumors during an interview with Forbes. It's now been reported that Varnado and NJPW have agreed to terms for multiple appearances. Given New Japan's relationship with Tony Khan, this has only increased the temperature of the Varnado-to-AEW rumors. However, a recent report throws a bit of cold water on those hopes.
In a recent update, Fightful reported the following: "...we were also informed that the New Japan Pro Wrestling deal is a go, and was agreed upon as far back as the last week of November. Those that we've spoken to familiar with that deal said that they haven't heard of anything regarding All Elite Wrestling and Mercedes yet, but also stated that doesn't mean it isn't happening." Fightful also notes that several other independent wrestling companies and conventions have attempted to book Varnado in recent months but couldn't due to contractual issues. Apparently, several wrestling conventions offered to bill themselves as "entertainment" related instead of wrestling as a way to work around those potential problems. Nothing came of that, but it's indicative of her drawing power nonetheless.
Mercedes Varnado Is Clearly An In-Demand Name
Varnado packed up and left WWE with the Sasha Banks character back in May, but rumors and speculation about her haven't died much since. AEW's shaky women's division could undoubtedly use a star of Varnado's caliber. Adding Saraya was a boost, to be sure, but she's currently only able to wrestle once a month as she figures out how her body responds to the physicality. Varnado would be under no such limitation and would immediately become one of the biggest stars in All Elite Wrestling—male or female.
The same can be said for NJPW and several other wrestling promotions, which has led to a massive amount of interest in the 30-year-old. It's been reported that her appearance at Wrestle Kingdom 17 won't be for an actual wrestling match. Her deal with New Japan reportedly spans several dates, making it likely that she'll be setting up a program at NJPW's biggest show of the year. The company recently rolled out its first-ever Women's Championship belt and is working closely with the all-female promotion, STARDOM. Sasha Banks could figure into boosting the signal of that new title and STARDOM in North America.
It feels like she's been in the professional wrestling game forever, but Varnado is still just 30 and could work for another 15 years if she decided to. That leaves the door open for her to carve out a fundamental role as a trailblazer for women's wrestling with all these smaller, non-WWE companies. She was a key player in WWE's women's revolution and could play a similar role for NJPW and AEW. WWE fans had to be conditioned to care about women's wrestling after decades of neglecting the division. These days, no one bats an eye when Becky Lynch or Ronda Rousey main event WrestleMania. That wouldn't have been the case 10 years ago. All Elite Wrestling and New Japan now face those same problems. Varnado could do the same for those promotions as she becomes eligible to wrestle again on January 1.
Source: Fightful