Where Sasha Banks Is Right Now

As the story of Sasha Banks distancing herself from WWE continues, all eyes are on the next moves of the multi-time "WWE Raw" and "SmackDown" Women's Champion. 

It was confirmed today by PWInsider that Banks, now going by her real-life name of Mercedes Varnado, arrived in Japan ahead of her scheduled appearance at New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom 17 event on January 4, 2023. It's expected that Varnado will "at least make a cameo" during WK17 but it's unclear if she will get physical or have an impromptu match that night. She may have a run-in with another former WWE star, KAIRI, who reigns as the IWGP Women's Champion. Varnado previously teased a confrontation between the two, but at WK17, KAIRI has a scheduled title defense against STARDOM's Tam Nakano.

Speculation has run rampant regarding what Varnado's overall intentions are with her upcoming NJPW appearance. Many believe she wants to start appearing in different promotions as a traveling champion, which she hinted at by posting a GIF this week of Ric Flair during his time as NWA World Heavyweight Champion. It could open the door for her to appear in AEW as well, with NJPW and AEW being established partners, best represented through their tandem NJPW x AEW Forbidden Door pay-per-view earlier this year. 

One unanswered piece of the puzzle, however, is why the WWE roster page still has Sasha Banks listed as an active star. It's been shown in recent weeks through Karl Anderson getting the green light to continue being on WWE television and still defend his NEVER Openweight Championship at WK 17 that WWE and NJPW are willing to work together when it's necessary. It's still possible that –similar to Anderson– Varnado will be appearing in both companies as a champion soon.