Mercedes Varnado
- Actress
Mercedes Kaestner-Varnado is an American professional wrestler and actress who also known as her ring names Sasha Banks (in WWE) and Mercedes Monè (in other promotions). Varnado made her acting debut in season 2 of the acclaimed show The Mandalorian (2019) in the role of Koska Reeves. As a pioneer of WWE's women's Wrestling, she is regarded as one of the greatest women's wrestler of all time.
She previously wrestled on the independent circuit, most notably for Chaotic Wrestling, where she once held the Chaotic Wrestling Women's Championship. Between WWE and their developmental brand NXT, Banks has had eight championship reigns-being a former NXT Women's Champion, 5-time Raw Women's Champion and inaugural and 3-time WWE Women's tag team champions and 1 time SmackDown Women's Champion. Varnado made her NJPW debut in 2023 where she is 1 time IWGP Women's Champion. In March 13, 2024 Marcedes made her debut at AEW. She made her in-ring debut on May 26 at Double or Nothing, where she defeated Nightingale to win the AEW TBS Championship.
Her match against Bayley at NXT Takeover: Respect (2015) on October 7, 2015 was the first women's match to ever headline a major WWE event, the first women's Iron Man match. In 2016, she and Charlotte Flair became the first women to headline a WWE pay-per-view event and the first to compete in a Hell in a Cell match (both at WWE Hell in a Cell (2016) in October 2016), the first women to main event WWE Monday Night RAW in a women's match since 2004. In 2021 at WrestleMania 37 Banks and her opponent Bianca Belair became first African born performers to headlining WrestleMania. Banks is also first 1990s born wrestler to headlining WrestleMania.
She previously wrestled on the independent circuit, most notably for Chaotic Wrestling, where she once held the Chaotic Wrestling Women's Championship. Between WWE and their developmental brand NXT, Banks has had eight championship reigns-being a former NXT Women's Champion, 5-time Raw Women's Champion and inaugural and 3-time WWE Women's tag team champions and 1 time SmackDown Women's Champion. Varnado made her NJPW debut in 2023 where she is 1 time IWGP Women's Champion. In March 13, 2024 Marcedes made her debut at AEW. She made her in-ring debut on May 26 at Double or Nothing, where she defeated Nightingale to win the AEW TBS Championship.
Her match against Bayley at NXT Takeover: Respect (2015) on October 7, 2015 was the first women's match to ever headline a major WWE event, the first women's Iron Man match. In 2016, she and Charlotte Flair became the first women to headline a WWE pay-per-view event and the first to compete in a Hell in a Cell match (both at WWE Hell in a Cell (2016) in October 2016), the first women to main event WWE Monday Night RAW in a women's match since 2004. In 2021 at WrestleMania 37 Banks and her opponent Bianca Belair became first African born performers to headlining WrestleMania. Banks is also first 1990s born wrestler to headlining WrestleMania.
