Okay, so I got curious the other day. You know how it is, sometimes a name just pops into your head. This time it was Sasha Banks. I remembered watching her in WWE, big star, lots of energy. Then, poof, seemed like she vanished. So, I thought, right, let’s figure this out.
My Little Search Mission
First thing I did was just punch “what happened to Sasha Banks” into the search bar. Simple stuff. Got a ton of results right away, mostly news articles, fan forums, that kind of thing. It was pretty clear something major went down.
Lots of talk about May 2022. Apparently, she and her tag team partner Naomi weren’t happy about something backstage at WWE Raw. Creative differences, they called it. Some reports said they felt the women’s tag team titles weren’t being treated seriously. So, they just… walked out. Left the titles on someone’s desk and left the building. Wild stuff.
WWE made a big deal about it, announced they were suspended indefinitely. Stripped them of the titles too. Then, silence for a bit. Lots of rumors flying around, naturally. Was she fired? Did she quit? Was she coming back? Nobody seemed totally sure for a while there.
Following the Trail
I kept digging through articles and posts, trying to piece together the timeline. It became clear that her WWE contract eventually ran out, or they reached some agreement for her release. The specific details were kinda murky, companies don’t usually air all that dirty laundry.
Then, the next big piece of news I found was her showing up somewhere totally different. It was January 2023, I think. She appeared at a big wrestling event in Japan, for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Big surprise entrance!
- New look.
- New name: Mercedes Moné.
- Looked ready to go, challenging their champion.
So, that answered the “where did she go?” question. She wasn’t done with wrestling, just done with WWE, at least for the time being. She wrestled a few matches over there in Japan, even won a title, the IWGP Women’s Championship. Seemed like she was finding her feet again.
Another Setback and What’s Next?
But then, I saw reports about an injury. Happened during a match in May 2023, almost exactly a year after the WWE walkout. Looked like an ankle injury. That put her back on the sidelines, unfortunately. Bad timing.
Since then, it’s been more recovery and speculation. I’ve seen her name pop up constantly with rumors about where she might land next. A lot of chatter about All Elite Wrestling (AEW), WWE’s main competitor in the US. Makes sense, right? Big star, free agent. People keep thinking she’ll debut there, especially with big events coming up.
So, that’s pretty much what I uncovered. It wasn’t a straightforward disappearance. It was quite the journey:
Walkout -> Suspension -> WWE Exit -> Japan Debut (as Mercedes Moné) -> Championship Win -> Injury -> Recovery & Speculation.
Right now, seems she’s recovered or recovering from the injury and everyone’s just waiting to see what her next move is. Could be AEW, could be a return to Japan, some even whisper about a WWE return someday, though that seems less likely right now. Who knows? Keeps things interesting, I guess. That’s the update based on my digging around.
