“The greatest mark,” Sasha Banks praises her best friend from WWE on her accomplishment

After leaving WWE in May, Sasha Banks is still friends with some of the stars from the company as evident from her recent tweet where she praised her real-life best friend

“The greatest mark,” Sasha Banks praises her best friend from WWE on her accomplishment

Merceds Mone aka Sasha Banks made her NJPW debut at Wrestle Kingdom (via Mercedes Varnado)

Sasha Banks, now known as Mercedes Mone, has made headlines in the new year as she made her debut in NJPW Wrestle Kingdom with her new persona. She came down to the ring at New Japan’s biggest show and confronted the IWGP women’s champion, Kairi, who had just successfully retained her title against Tam Nakano. Mone and Kairi will go up against each other at Battle in the Valley on February 18th for the title.

It is important to note that Mone hasn’t cut all ties with everyone in WWE. Former Sasha Banks thanked everyone who helped her, including Vince McMahon and Triple H, in a series of tweets before making her New Japan debut. And now, she has responded to her real-life best friend, Bayley, via Twitter as well. The Damage CTRL member tweeted how she completed 10 years as a WWE superstar. Quoting the tweet, Mercedes praised her accomplishment saying, “The greatest mark.”

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Bayley and Sasha Banks both made their WWE debuts just a month apart, with the latter appearing at NXT in December 2012. Bayley wrestled her first match in NXT in January 2013. The two achieved great heights in WWE’s developmental brand and led the women’s revolution in the company. They had a storied rivalry in 2015, culminating at NXT TakeOver: Respect in the first-ever women’s 30-minute Iron Man match.

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Related: Major update on the AEW status of Sasha Banks, backstage belief in WWE also revealed

Sasha Banks’ departure from WWE

Sasha Banks and Naomi
Sasha Banks and Naomi in their last appearance on WWE TV (via WWE)

On the May 16th episode of Raw last year, Sasha Banks and Naomi walked out on WWE as they were not happy with the company’s creative ideas for them. Both were the women’s tag team champions at the time, and they thought that the company didn’t take the titles seriously and had no substantial plans for them. They had their last televised match against Natalya and Shayna Baszler on an episode of Friday Night SmackDown.

Ever since Vince McMahon stepped down, fans had hoped for a return from the former Raw women’s champion. In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Triple H talked about Sasha Banks and how the former WWE star had cut all contact with the company. Mercedes was making appearances at independent events and signings under her real name before making her debut at NJPW. 

As Sasha Banks has adopted a new name and persona going forward, it is unlikely that it is part of a working relationship between WWE and NJPW. Wrestle Kingdom 17 turned out to be a historic event, as both AEW and WWE-contracted talents wrestled at the show. While Kenny Omega won the IWGP US championship, Karl Anderson from WWE dropped his NEVER Openweight title at the show.

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