On February 18th, a huge moment in Mercedes Varnado’s professional career will arrive. She’ll be wrestling her first NJPW match against KAIRI for the IWGP Women’s Championship at Battle in the Valley. While the event is being held outside of Japan, it’s another dream coming true for the Star Wars actor. Mercedes hasn’t hidden her excitement and happiness towards this opportunity of working for NJPW and the all-women’s promotion Stardom. However, the pressure is also very much on. She’s coming off of a lengthy break after leaving WWE and has evolved her Sasha Banks character into Mercedes Moné, calling herself the CEO rather than the Boss. There’s a new audience to entertain, new environments to work in and a whole new crop of talent to wrestle. After ten years in WWE, the time is now for Mercedes to challenge herself. Let’s reflect on her WWE career before then looking at what the future holds for her and why this Saturday is one of the biggest matches of her life.
In WWE, Mercedes developed into one of the best wrestlers in the world as Sasha Banks. Initially stuck in limbo in NXT, Sasha soon took a chance on herself and the Legit Boss character was born. Her incredible promo skills, great character work and impressive in-ring ability helped her to quickly become popular with fans and force her way into championship pictures. Her on-screen presence alone demanded your attention. Every year, Sasha seemed to get better and better. 2019 though, after taking a hiatus, is when she stepped up another level and cemented herself as one of WWE’s all-time greats. She entered into veteran status in my eyes. Arguably, she’s responsible for helping the likes of Carmella, Ronda Rousey, Bayley etc have the best matches of her careers. She historically main evented WrestleMania 37 against Bianca Belair, with the two becoming the first black women in history to main event the Showcase of the Immortals. Sasha won 7 Women’s Championships and 3 Women’s Tag Team Championships, becoming a Triple Crown and Grand Slam Champion. She boasts one of the greatest match catalogues I’ve ever seen. Seems like she had a fantastic WWE career, right? Well, somehow, these accomplishments do not show the bigger picture. Throughout her time, it never felt like Sasha Banks was the no.1 woman. Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey are names that often got the biggest storylines, the long title reigns and highly promoted matches. The closest Sasha got was 2020 where she shared that top spot with Bayley and Asuka. When she main evented Mania 37, the match build-up heavily involved Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler and even Reggie. WWE bizarrely never seemed to truly appreciate her and didn’t understand that they had someone who was the best women’s wrestler on the planet at one point. Her role in The Mandalorian was barely even acknowledged by the company.
Sasha’s hiatus in 2019, where she had to be convinced by Vince McMahon to not quit WWE, was a big sign that eventually she would depart. Last year, a lack of creative plans for her and Naomi’s Women’s Tag Team Championship reign was understandably the last straw. Both women knew their worth and walked out of the company. Naomi is still weighing up her options as of writing, but Sasha Banks would never return. After taking advantage of opportunities outside of wrestling, the rumours began about her comeback. Japan always seemed like the most likely destination for Mercedes Varnado. She has the star appeal to get away with working a part-time schedule, allowing her to continue doing other stuff, and she’s said many times that wrestling in the country is a dream of hers. She even trained there for a period of time in 2019. Just those few months are what elevated her into hitting that next level of her wrestling skill. Ever since I began watching Stardom in 2020, I couldn’t stop thinking about Mercedes being a part of the promotion. She’s still the first name in my head when I ponder dream matches for a lot of the joshi wrestlers. After much speculation, reports claimed that she had signed with NJPW (as a part of their new ‘women’s division’) and Stardom. In true Mercedes fashion, she made her hotly anticipated debut on the biggest stage possible which was Wrestle Kingdom 17. New theme song, new hair, new gear, new name, new nickname but the same attitude, confidence and star presence. While it wasn’t the smoothest debut she could have wished for, Mercedes Moné looked right at home. Unlike WWE, NJPW clearly know her worth as she immediately laid down the challenge to KAIRI for the historic IWGP Women’s Championship.
Battle in the Valley is Mercedes Moné’s moment to prove that she hasn’t missed a step, and may well have even improved further as a wrestler. She’ll be competing with a different KAIRI than the one she wrestled often in WWE. The big question is how well will Mercedes adapt to Japanese strong style? Considering she’s recently trained a lot with joshis and in the LA Dojo, the answer should be an obvious one. Her supposed new finisher leaves a lot to be desired but there’s no doubt that Mercedes is in the best shape of her life. She looks ready to be taking those big bumps and dishing out her own physicality. KAIRI will make sure she doesn’t receive an open-armed welcome, that’s for sure. Mercedes winning the IWGP Women’s Championship is the likely result which makes sense. She doesn’t need a championship, but her presence brings more eyes onto both NJPW and joshi wrestling. Mercedes vs KAIRI has been heavily promoted since its announcement, they’re on the poster, in the co-main event slot and Mercedes played a huge part in the show being sold out. This was without Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi even being announced which says a lot. A lackluster performance is difficult to think about and would hardly affect companies’ opinions of her, but it would create questions among some wrestling fans. There are people who are waiting to pounce on her at the first chance they get. Some wrestlers adapt immediately to the Japanese style, with Mariah May being a recent example, while others understandably take some time. I have confidence that Mercedes will be another example of the former. Her passion for the industry won’t allow her to fail.
After this week is all said and done, another big test looms for Mercedes Moné. Stardom’s major PPV event, All Star Grand Queendom, is approaching and has been said to be possibly their biggest show in their history. This could be where Mercedes competes in her first Stardom match. She will be fully introduced to the best women’s roster in the world. While I still consider her to be among the best wrestlers around, this is where she can begin to cement herself as one of the greatest of all-time. Spending a decade in WWE as their best women’s wrestler then walking into Stardom and becoming one of their best wrestlers would be an incredible achievement. Mercedes’ name would be alongside the great Io Shirai (who did it vice versa of course). There’s plenty of different in-ring styles that she could face during her time in the company. Giulia and Syuri would provide her with the most physical battles of her career, while AZM and Starlight Kid would be an exciting test to see if Mercedes can adapt to the high speed style. Challenging Giulia for the World of Stardom Championship seems to be the big money match, especially given the champion’s appeal to the Western audience. Ultimately, though, Mercedes vs Mayu Iwatani is what I want. Mayu is arguably Stardom’s greatest ever wrestler for her loyalty, consistency and ability to step up when needed. She can wrestle as an athletic high-flyer, physical brawler and smooth technician so she would be a great test for Mercedes. It’s a match that would demand the attention of wrestling fans around the world. Seeing Mercedes interact with charismatic stars like Natsupoi and Mina Shirakawa would also be interesting. Stardom is well known for its fun promos and entertaining segments both on and outside of shows. Mercedes’ acting skills would come into play here where she could join in on comedic antics. However, the day I see Kuma Mercedes is the day I stop watching wrestling. No matter what she does in Stardom as well as in NJPW, the future looks very exciting with the amount of possibilities available.
While I loved Sasha Banks, I can see myself enjoying Mercedes Moné even more. So many dream matches now have a good chance at becoming a reality. This doesn’t just include women in Stardom too. Mercedes could wrestle Miyu Yamashita, Mickie James and Emi Sakura to name a few. I’ve always admired her confidence and now I admire her bravery to step out of her comfort zone known as WWE. She’s chosen to challenge herself by evolving her character and seeking to compete all across the world against women of different in-ring styles and backgrounds. A big spotlight is on her, but that’s because she’s so good that she demands it. Mercedes lives by the motto, “be so good they can’t ignore you”. WWE were the only ones stupid enough to ignore her and they’ve paid the price for doing so. It’ll be interesting to see what the year holds for Mercedes Moné, starting from her battle with KAIRI in a few days. It’s her time to ensure that she will be remembered as one of the greatest of all time.
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