PWInsider.com is reporting that New Japan Pro-Wrestling is bringing in Mercedes Varnado, better known as Sasha Banks, to the Wrestle Kingdom 17 event on January 4.
Mike Johnson writes that while it’s not clear if Varnado will be appearing on the show, sources close to the situation say that NJPW is flying her in. Her contract situation with WWE remains unclear as she walked out of the company in May along with Naomi and was suspended indefinitely, with her contract highly likely remaining frozen unless some kind of agreement was reached.
There were several rumors that she and Naomi agreed to return to the company but the move never materialized and both women remain away from the public wrestling scene. Varnado has restarted wrestling training over the past several weeks and has uploaded several photos and videos on her Instagram doing training both in the United States and Mexico.
In an interview with Ariel Helwani a few months ago, Paul “Triple H” Levesque said that he would love to have her back but obviously that all depends on her. With her time away from WWE, the former multi-time champion has done acting, modeling, and worked on her cannabis business.
Both Banks and Naomi remain listed as active on the WWE.COM roster page.
