Artist Spotlight: Tippstrip – Cyanotype to high-impact EPs
4 months ago
United States Mercedes Varnado, known professionally as Sasha Banks and Mercedes Moné, has established herself as a prominent figure in professional wrestling, achieving multiple championships across major promotions like WWE, AEW, and NJPW, and expanding her career into acting.
WWE Superstar Sasha Banks announced a partnership with Special Olympics, participating in a three-day tour alongside athletes and executives.
Sasha Banks wore an exclusive sneaker designed for her in partnership with Footlocker for WrestleMania.
A brand new Snapchat Cameo feature allowed users to become Sasha Banks for a limited time.
Crunchyroll announced a limited-edition merchandise collaboration with Mercedes Moné, featuring anime-inspired designs.
Mercedes Justine Kaestner Varnado was born on January 26, 1992, in Fairfield, California. Her early life involved moving frequently across the United States, including settling in Boston, to support her autistic brother. Varnado developed an early interest in professional wrestling, drawing inspiration from All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling and performers such as Manami Toyota, Aja Kong, Rey Mysterio, and particularly Eddie Guerrero, whose legacy she continues to honor in her matches. Her professional wrestling journey began in 2008 with Chaotic Wrestling in Woburn, Massachusetts, where she trained under Todd Smith, making her debut as “Mercedes KV” on August 8, 2010. She spent two years honing her skills on the independent circuit, competing notably for Chaotic Wrestling, New England Championship Wrestling, and the National Wrestling Alliance. A significant early achievement came in December 2011 when she won the Chaotic Wrestling Women’s Championship, holding it for 378 days before signing with WWE in 2012.
Upon joining WWE, Varnado adopted the ring name Sasha Banks and was assigned to NXT. Her tenure in NXT saw her develop the “The Boss” persona, culminating in her winning the NXT Women’s Championship in February 2015. Her 30-minute Iron Man match against Bayley at NXT TakeOver: Respect in October 2015 was a landmark event, recognized as the first women’s match to headline an NXT TakeOver and the longest women’s match in WWE history at the time. This period marked her as one of the “Four Horsewomen” of NXT, pivotal to the “Women’s Evolution” in WWE. Promoted to the main roster in July 2015, Banks continued her trailblazing career, securing multiple Raw Women’s Championships and participating in groundbreaking matches, including the first-ever women’s Hell in a Cell match and the first female main event of a WWE pay-per-view against Charlotte Flair in 2016. She became a WWE Women’s Grand Slam Champion and WWE Women’s Triple Crown Champion, holding the SmackDown Women’s Championship in 2020. Her main event match at WrestleMania 37 – Night 1 against Bianca Belair in 2021 was historic, being the first time two African-American women headlined WrestleMania.
In 2022, after a creative dispute with WWE, Varnado departed from the company. She re-emerged in January 2023 under the new ring name Mercedes Moné in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and World Wonder Ring Stardom, quickly winning the IWGP Women’s Championship. Her career continued to diversify with an acting role as Koska Reeves in Disney+’s “The Mandalorian” (2020–2023) and a film debut in “The Collective” (2023). In March 2024, Moné debuted with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and secured the AEW TBS Championship in her first match at Double or Nothing in May 2024. She further cemented her status by winning the NJPW Strong Women’s Championship and the CMLL World Women’s Championship, becoming the only woman to hold championships across WWE, AEW, NJPW, and CMLL.
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