As of January 1st, Mercedes Varnado is a free agent as she’s no longer contractually obligated to WWE. The former Sasha Banks is set to make an appearance at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom tonight, though the nature of her appearance is unknown as of this time.
Wrestle Kingdom 17 will mark the first wrestling-related appearance for Varnado since she and her tag team partner Naomi walked out of WWE in May amidst creative disputes with Vince McMahon. Following their walkout, the pair were stripped of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship and suspended without pay. The two have continued making public appearances together during their hiatus from wrestling, and though she’s not scheduled to appear, Naomi is reportedly in Tokyo to support her friend, as is current Raw star Bayley.
According to a recent report from Fightful Select, the former Sasha Banks was in good spirits and was out socializing when she arrived in Japan. Media outlets attempted to interview her, but were told that the decision to speak would be up to the star herself. The nature of her participation at Wrestle Kingdom is being closely guarded, and she hasn’t even told other talent what she’ll be doing at the event.
AEW Talent Believe The Former Sasha Banks Will Be Saraya’s Mystery Partner
The Fightful Select report goes on to say that while AEW talent have been “no sold” on whether or not Varnado will be Saraya’s mystery partner on January 11th, they believe this will be the case.
According to the report, talent cite the fact that the possibility of her appearance hasn’t been shot down either on television or internally, the fact that the match was promoted with a month’s advance notice, and the timing of it taking place after Varnado’s Wrestle Kingdom 17 appearance, and the other participants involved in the match as reasons they believe she’ll appear alongside Saraya.
However, one talent was of the belief that until Varnado became a free agent, a deal between the two sides could not be struck due to her contractual status with WWE.