Shortly after Triple H, Stephanie McMahon & Nick Khan took over the responsibilities Vince McMahon used to hold for WWE, we started hearing reports that Naomi & Sasha Banks would be returning to the company.
The then-WWE Women’s Tag Team champions walked out before a Raw broadcast back in May due to a creative dispute with McMahon. While he was still running things, word was Banks & Naomi were negotiating their exits. The new regime changed the narrative, and the crowning of new Tag champs was believed to be how WWE would bring The Boss ‘n’ Glow duo back.
But it’s coming up on two months since Raquel Rodriguez & Aliyah won the vacant straps. There’s already been a title change, yet the only places we’ve seen Sasha & Naomi is on red carpets and runways.
Which is part of why fans got so excited when Banks and Stardom’s KAIRI (fka WWE’s Kairi Sane) had some fun with the idea of rekindling their rivalry for the new IWGP Women’s championship in New Japan. The Boss — who I guess we should be calling by her real name, Mercedes Varnado, since that’s what she’s going by again on social media — started it by putting a fan-made graphic for the hypothetical showdown in her Instagram Story. Then the Pirate Princess quote-tweeted it...
— KAIRI /カイリ ☠️ (@KAIRI_official) October 16, 2022
... and Stardom’s main account retweeted that, and marking out commenced online.
There’s almost certainly nothing to this other than wishful thinking by all involved. There are no signs Sasha is a legit free agent. The signing of Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows while the former still has a New Japan championship did generate some speculation about a working partnership with WWE, but we’ve heard nothing but conjecture along those lines.
KAIRI is scheduled to face Jazzy Gabert in the semi-finals of the tournament to crown the first IWGP Women’s champ this weekend, and is a favorite to win the belt at New Japan & Stardom’s Historic X-Over show next month. If Sasha hasn’t shown up in WWE by then, maybe we can revisit this as a possibly addition to Jan. 4’s Wrestle Kingdom card?
Probably not, but...
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