Sasha Banks, aka Mercedes Varnado, will be appearing at NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 17 pay-per-view on Wednesday as part of a lucrative deal that will fetch her $100,000 per appearance.
Fightful Select is reporting that Varnado’s plans for Wrestle Kingdom are nothing short of a tight-kept secret, and no one has any clue of what the former WWE Superstar might be up to come Wednesday. Varnado is reportedly in good spirits and has been actively socializing since landing in Tokyo.
The report further states that The Boss is still rumored to be making her AEW Dynamite debut next week as Saraya’s mystery partner in Los Angeles, and talents enquiring about the same haven’t been denied the possibility. Sean Ross Sapp noted:
“We’re hours away from Sasha Banks, aka Mercedes appearing at New Japan’s Pro Wrestling Kingdom… doing what, many don’t know.
We’re told that upon arriving in Japan, Mercedes has been out socializing and in good spirits based on those that we spoke to. There were attempts from media outlets to land interviews, but were told that would be up to Mercedes herself if she wished to do them. In speaking with some names in conjunction with the event, they know that Mercedes will be there, but still have not been told what exactly she’s doing, as it’s being kept very quiet. There are even other talent that spoke to her and she didn’t tell them what she’d be doing.”
“Talent that Fightful speaks to in AEW tell us they’ve been “no sold” when asking about Sasha Banks being Saraya’s partner, but they’re still of the belief it’s her. The fact that it wasn’t shot down either on screen or internally, promoting it a month out, it being a week after her Wrestle Kingdom appearance, and the cast of characters involved in the tag match were all points brought up to us by talent in the company when assuming it was her. However, one talent said they didn’t believe a deal was done or “could have been completed” as of last week because of her contractual ties to WWE.”
“Speaking of WWE, the New Japan news caught at least some writers in the company off guard. Even though we can confirm the NJPW-Mercedes deal was done in principle at least by late November, one writer sent word that they were under the impression that WWE could or would get back Sasha Banks by the Royal Rumble as recently as early January. Since the news breaking of Mercedes to NJPW, they’ve not heard anything else on that front.”
Varnado will reportedly appear on the Wrestle Kingdom show to signal her arrival as well as announce her upcoming dates with NJPW. Her former colleagues, namely, Naomi and Bayley will be in the audience to support their friend on her grand day.
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(h/t – Fightful)
