Sasha Banks WWE Return 'Likely'! Will Ospreay AEW Contract! | WrestleTalk - video Dailymotion

WrestleTalk

Where do you think Mercedes Mone will go in 2024? Let us know in the comments! Why The Shield Don’t Like CM Punk   https://youtu.be/njVJbr4Rm4E More wrestling news on https://wrestletalk.com/ Sasha Banks WWE Return 'Likely'! Will Ospreay AEW Contract! | WrestleTalk #SashaBanks #WWE #WillOspreay  Subscribe to WrestleTalk Podcasts   https://bit.ly/3pEAEIu Subscribe to partsFUNknown for lists, fantasy booking & more  https://bit.ly/32JJsCv Subscribe to NoRollsBarred  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5UQPZe-8v4_UP1uxi4Mv6A Subscribe to WrestleTalk  https://bit.ly/3gKdNK3 SUBSCRIBE TO THEM ALL! Make sure to enable ALL push notifications!  Watch the latest wrestling news: https://shorturl.at/pAIV3 Buy WrestleTalk Merch here! https://wrestleshop.com/   Follow WrestleTalk: Twitter: https://twitter.com/_WrestleTalk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WrestleTalk.Official Patreon: https://goo.gl/2yuJpo WrestleTalk Podcast on iTunes: https://goo.gl/7advjX WrestleTalk Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3uKx6HD  Written by: Luke Owen Presented by: Luke Owen Thumbnail by: Brandon Syres Image Sourcing by: Brandon Syres  About WrestleTalk: Welcome to the official WrestleTalk YouTube channel! WrestleTalk covers the sport of professional wrestling - including WWE TV shows (both WWE Raw & WWE SmackDown LIVE), PPVs (such as Royal Rumble, WrestleMania & SummerSlam), AEW All Elite Wrestling, Impact Wrestling, ROH, New Japan, and more. Subscribe and enable ALL notifications for the latest wrestling WWE reviews and wrestling news.  Sources used for research: https://wrestletalk.com/news/njpw-mercedes-mone-not-close-chris-jericho/ https://wrestletalk.com/news/mercedes-mone-forbidden-door-aew-opponent/  Youtube Channel Comments Policy We appreciate the comments and opinions our viewers provide. Do note that all comments are subject to YouTube auto-moderation and manual moderation review. We encourage opinions and discussion, but harassment, hate speech, bullying and other abusive posts will not be tolerated. Decisions on comment removal are made by the Community Manager. Please email us at support@wrestletalk.com with any questions or concerns.

Transcript

00:00 On May 21st, 2023, Mercedes Monae - the former Sasha Banks in WWE - sustained an injury that

00:06 put all of her New Japan and Stardom dates on hold. Plans for a match between her and

00:12 Julia for a belt that was specifically designed for Monae to win were put on hold, and now

00:18 those plans are not in place. Because it looks like Monae's short stint in Japan is coming

00:24 to an end. So will Monae go to AEW or return to WWE as Sasha Banks? I guess she'll follow

00:33 the Monae. It's a joke because her name is Mercedes Mon-

00:46 Sasha Banks along with her tag champ partner Naomi walked out on WWE on the 16th May 2022

00:52 edition of Monday Night Raw due to disagreements with the creative direction for both her,

00:56 her tag partner and the women's tag division as a whole. After a few months of speculation,

01:01 Fightful Select were able to report that Banks had finished with the company and was able

01:06 to take outside bookings from January 1st, 2023. Naomi, on the other hand, just announced

01:11 that she was done with WWE and signed with Impact Wrestling in April of 2023.

01:17 Banks didn't wait so long, debuting for New Japan Pro Wrestling at WrestleKingdom

01:21 17 following the IWGP Women's Championship match between Kairi and Tam Nakano. It was

01:27 reported that Banks, now going by her new wrestling name Mercedes Monae, was making

01:31 - no pun intended - bank on this New Japan deal. Voices of Wrestling reported that Monae's

01:37 deal was the largest New Japan had ever made to any wrestler - including Chris Jericho

01:45 - who was rumoured to be making around 100 grand per show. For what it's worth, Dave

01:49 Meltzer said that it wasn't that high. But whatever it was, it paid off for New Japan

01:55 as the first show that Monae was announced for - which took place on February 2nd in

01:59 San Jose - sold out. At that show, Monae won the IWGP Women's Championship - which she

02:05 held for 64 days - before losing it to Mayu Iwatani at Stardom All-Star Grand Queendom.

02:10 Monae wouldn't be without gold for very long though, as New Japan announced a new

02:14 title would be introduced for their strong brand in the US, which would see a winner

02:19 crowned the following month. Dave Meltzer wrote in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter

02:23 that Iwatani winning the IWGP Women's Championship was because Monae would be finishing up with

02:28 New Japan after the show, but had agreed to a new deal. However by that point the creative

02:33 decision had already been made for Monae to drop the belt. So basically, New Japan reportedly

02:38 just made a new belt for Monae to win instead. Disaster struck in the finals of that tournament

02:44 though, as Monae suffered a serious ankle injury and called an audible in the finals

02:49 to lose to Willow Nightingale. That title was eventually won by Julia, and it was reported

02:54 in the summer of 2023 that New Japan's plans - New Ja-plans - were to have her face against

02:59 a returning Monae when she was fit and healthy. But by November, Dave Meltzer reported that

03:05 there were "no dates scheduled for Mercedes Monae with New Japan or Stardom". This report

03:11 coincided with the WWE return of Kairi Sane, more on that later. Monae herself said in

03:17 a cameo video that she would return "with some wrestling company in 2024" with no

03:22 specificity on what that company would be, and in the December 4th edition of the Wrestling

03:27 Observer Newsletter, Meltzer wrote, "Monae has no matches left on her deal with Japan

03:33 because the planned Julia vs. Monae match upon her return is no longer in the books.

03:38 Part of the holdup is there's also reports that WWE have interest in signing Julia. More

03:44 on that later." So Mercedes Monae will be back wrestling soon. She posted a video of

03:49 her training on November 29th, 2023. But if Japan is no longer on the cards, what comes

03:56 next? A return to America seems most likely, but will she return to WWE or try new ways?

04:03 New Waters With All Elite Wrestling

04:05 When Monae debuted for New Japan Pro Wrestling there was plenty of online speculation that

04:10 she could also make some appearances for All Elite Wrestling based on the company's working

04:14 relationships together. In December of 2022, Soraya announced that she would be tagging

04:19 with a mystery partner against Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter on the January 11th edition

04:23 of Dynamite. And because speculation ramped up so much that Soraya's mystery partner

04:28 would be Monae, AEW had to announce ahead of time that it would be Toni Storm. But there

04:33 were talks between AEW and Monae in place. Fightful Select reported that AEW and Monae

04:39 had been in discussions about her coming in for the Forbidden Door co-promotion show with

04:45 New Japan, which would have reportedly seen her take on Soraya. Sadly, Monae's injury

04:50 kept her off the card. While Toni Khan did not confirm her opponent for the show, he

04:55 did confirm that they were in talks for her to be part of Forbidden Door, saying, "Nobody

05:01 really knows besides Mercedes and myself what was going to happen at Forbidden Door."

05:05 Monae eventually made her on-screen AEW debut… sort of… at All In at Wembley Stadium when

05:13 she was shown on camera not once, not thrice, but twice. Dave Meltzer wrote in the Wrestling

05:18 Observer Newsletter, "The story we had heard was that she was likely to wrestle on this

05:23 show before her injury." Then, just before Full Gear in November 2023, it was announced

05:29 that AEW was going to announce a major signing, with plenty of online speculation that it

05:36 would be Mercedes Monae. Mercedes Monae herself even teased that it would be her on Instagram,

05:43 but Fightful Select reported it wasn't her. It was, in fact, Will Ospreay. And he's

05:48 an interesting character in this story, because what AEW wanted to have done for Monae is

05:54 not too dissimilar to what they actually did for Will Ospreay. AEW basically spent all

06:00 of 2022 rolling out the red carpet for Ospreay, putting him in high profile matches, giving

06:06 him a match at Wembley Stadium and showing him at every possible turn, "here's what

06:11 you could win if you sign with AEW". There was heavy interest from WWE in signing Ospreay

06:17 according to Fightful Select, and Will himself teased signing with WWE, but ultimately chose

06:23 to sign with AEW because of how they treated him and what they offered. He didn't have

06:28 to move to the US, which he didn't really want to do, and he's getting huge money for

06:33 it. How much money? Well, TNA offered him a seven-figure deal according to PWInsider,

06:39 and Dave Meltzer wrote in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE also offered a huge deal,

06:45 but admitted to him that AEW went higher with their offer. Which basically means they went

06:52 higher than WWE who had heavy interest and TNA who put in a seven-figure deal. And without

06:59 the injury you can bet dollars to donuts that AEW would have done the same for Monae. Had

07:05 her wrestle in a big match at Forbidden Door, given her a marquee match at Wembley Stadium,

07:09 then given her massive money offers which would have had options to live wherever she

07:16 wants. Which ironically might be Japan going by previous Monae interviews.

07:21 Ospreay's also been announced for TNA's Snake Eyes show on January 14th 2024, and

07:26 we've seen over the years that signing with All Elite Wrestling doesn't mean that you

07:30 solely work for All Elite Wrestling. Which means if Monae were to sign with AEW, she

07:36 could still do New Japan and Stardom date or even work around the world for other promotions.

07:42 Recent signee to AEW Mariah May, also formerly of Stardom, sent out a tweet to Monae asking

07:48 where she was at on December 1st. But is signing with AEW the best move for Monae, given their

07:55 history of women's promotion on their show?

07:58 This sign was at an AEW event in 2023. Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio on December

08:04 5th noted that there was a lot of negativity in the AEW locker room when it comes to getting

08:10 TV time, and noted that Britt Baker, once the figurehead of AEW's women's division,

08:15 is in the category of "frustrated wrestlers".

08:19 And while there has been a lot of talk in 2023 of Mercedes Monae signing with AEW, or

08:24 at the very least doing some deals with them, according to Sean Ross Sapp, it's now more

08:28 likely we'll see the WWE return of Sasha Banks.

08:34 While reviewing the December 4th edition of Monday Night Raw, Sean Ross Sapp was asked

08:38 about Mercedes Monae returning to WWE, to which he replied.

08:43 I do think there is more of a possibility of Mercedes heading to WWE than I thought

08:48 there was in August when there was a working plan for Mercedes and AEW to work together.

08:55 Because when I follow up on that, I have not been told of any current active plan for that

09:01 to happen, and that's a bummer because it looked like it was going to happen.

09:06 It really did look like it was going to happen.

09:08 It was looking like it was going to happen.

09:10 Mercedes Monae is All Elite, etc.

09:13 But things have changed.

09:14 So what's changed?

09:15 Well, for starters, Vince McMahon's no longer there.

09:18 Monae walked out on WWE due to her creative frustrations, but a lot has changed in WWE

09:24 since then.

09:25 Vince is gone.

09:26 John Laurinaitis, someone else she reportedly had issues with, is gone.

09:30 And Triple H, the guy who booked her early work in NXT, is the guy in charge of all of

09:36 WWE's creative now.

09:39 And you've only got to watch Raw and Smackdown to see how his NXT children are thriving on

09:43 the main roster.

09:45 Triple H has also brought back a lot of talent that were let go during the McMahon era.

09:49 Braun Strowman, Johnny Gargano, Candice LeRae, Tegan Nox, hell, he brought back CM Punk.

09:55 But perhaps more key to this story is Crown Jewel, which saw the WWE return of Kairi Sane,

10:01 the woman Monae beat for the IWGP Women's Championship in her New Japan debut match.

10:07 Sane reunited with her Sky Pirates tag partner Io Sky, and the Damage Control group grew

10:12 in numbers when Sane's Kabuki Warriors partner Asuka joined their ranks.

10:17 They have since been running a storyline where Bayley, the founder of this group, is seemingly

10:21 being pushed out of it.

10:23 Following Sane's return, infamous Reddit user Kermit posted that more people were set

10:27 to either return or sign for WWE as part of this storyline - some of which are close friends

10:33 and stars no one will see coming.

10:36 While he couldn't confirm any names, Sean Ross Sapp was able to confirm Kermit's report.

10:42 This ties into Dave Meltz's report about Monae not currently having any plans with

10:46 New Japan for that Julia match that was on the books, because nobody knows for sure what

10:52 Julia's decision will be between working in Japan and WWE, or if AEW would make an

11:00 offer.

11:01 Alex Queen of the Ring asked Triple H about Julia at the Survivor Series press conference,

11:05 to which he replied, "They are always looking globally for new talent to bring in."

11:10 And on that story of Damage Control, it's not just Mariah May that tweeted to Mercedes

11:15 Monet as her Boss & Hug Connection partner - yes that was their tag team name - her Boss

11:21 & Hug Connection partner Bayley retweeted Monet's training return video with the greatest

11:27 is yet to come.

11:29 So those are the options.

11:31 I mean, there's actually loads of options.

11:33 TNA is right there, they offered Will Ospreay seven figures plus her former tag partner

11:37 Trinity as their current champion.

11:39 But these are the options we've discussed.

11:42 Mercedes could sign with AEW, she could return to WWE as Sasha Banks, or perhaps she stays

11:52 in Japan.

11:53 If you were Mercedes Monet, which would you do?

11:56 And just after you've left that comment down below answering my excellent question,

12:00 why not check out Oli Davis' deep dive into the history of CM Punk and The Shield, and

12:05 how none of them really want to do work with him, but they always do.

Sasha Banks WWE Return 'Likely'! Will Ospreay AEW Contract! | WrestleTalk

Category

Transcript

Recommended