While questions swirl as to Mercedes Mone’s contractual future with NJPW and Stardom, there has been some clarity given as to the reason her former tag team partner hasn’t joined her to this point.
According to Dave Meltzer in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Trinity Fatu (fka Naomi in WWE) is not in NJPW/Stardom yet due to pressure to keep spending down within Bushiroad’s wrestling division.
From the newsletter:
“The hard part about a longer commitment (to Mone) is that Bushiroad’s wrestling division, even though Stardom has grown greatly, has overall taken a major financial hit because of New Japan’s declines related to the pandemic, even with New Japan World up. Because of that, the wrestling division is under pressure to keep spending down. An example is that they were told they could bring in Trinity Fatu, but it was felt it would cost too much for the return and thus far hadn’t made that deal.”
Mone (then Sasha Banks) and Fatu famously walked out of WWE prior to a May 2022 episode of WWE Raw due to creative issues. Mone eventually became a free agent, signed a short-term deal with NJPW/Stardom, and is the reigning IWGP Women’s Champion.
Fatu is also a free agent, but has yet to wrestle for any other group since May 2022. Last month, she filed a trademark for the name Trinity Starr, perhaps a nod toward what her new name will be when she returns.
On the Mone contract situation, Meltzer said Bushiroad confirmed their original deal was to end with this weekend’s Stardom pay-per-view but that an extension has been discussed. Mone had also said in an SI interview that her contract wasn’t expiring which could indicate they have already come to a new deal.
After defeating Yuka Sakazaki to retain the title on the pay-per-view, ROH Women’s Champion Athena will defend the title against Miyu Yamashita on this Thursday’s ROH on HonorClub in a match that will be taped Wednesday, apparently prior to Dynamite. Yamashita made her debut Thursday with a win over Shazza McKenzie.
On commentary, Ian Riccaboni said that the ROH World Champion coming out of tonight would be at next Friday’s AEW Battle of the Belts event.
Champions retain
While the night saw new ROH Tag Team Champions crowned in a ladder match and a new ROH Pure Champion, all of the other incumbent champions left Los Angeles with their title reigns intact.
ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli successfully defended against Eddie Kingston in a hard-hitting encounter. After the match, Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta were stalking Kingston until new Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata came out to even the odds.
While many expected a title change, ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe fended off the very game challenge of Mark Briscoe to remain the titleholder.
As mentioned earlier, Athena retained her title with a win over Sakazaki in a physical match — her second defense of the week after she defended against Emi Sakura on Thursday’s HonorClub show.
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Embassy (Brian Cage & Gates of Agony) retained their titles with a win over AR Fox, Blake Christian & Metalik.
In a match filled with incredible spots, AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo retained his title with a victory over Komander that opened the PPV.
Naomi, EJ Nduka reportedly backstage
Fightful reported that former WWE wrestler Naomi was backstage watching the Athena vs. Sakazaki match, confirmed by Athena at the post-event press conference. She is in town for a WrestleCon appearance and Thursday’s WaleMania event.
PWInsider reported that former MLW Tag Team Champion EJ Nduka was in attendance at the event. While has not worked in ROH before, he did recently made his AEW debut in a Dark match against Konosuke Takeshita taped in Orlando, Florida.
Neither report indicated they are signed.
Dutch & Vincent return
Following Stu Grayson’s victory over Slim J on the Zero Hour pre-show, Grayson and Evil Uno were in the ring when Dutch & Vincent of The Righteous made their return to the promotion to stare down the Dark Order duo.
The two were rumored to be on WWE’s radar after attending a tryout with some rumors they were tabbed to align with Bray Wyatt.
Vincent was recently part of Impact Wrestling with the Honor No More faction, but hasn’t wrestled since some November dates with CMLL. Dutch has been in a match just once since last August, that being a January battle royal appearance for NEW.
A trademark filing may have revealed what former WWE wrestler Naomi plans to use as her new professional name.
Naomi (real name Trinity Fatu) applied to trademark “Trinity Starr” on March 20. The filing is related to merchandising purposes. Patent attorney Michael Dockins is listed as the attorney of record.
The filing can be seen below:
Word Mark TRINITY STARR
Goods and Services IC 025. US 022 039. G & S: Hats; Shirts; Sweatshirts; Hooded sweatshirts
IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Entertainment in the nature of wrestling contests; Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibits and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer; Entertainment services, namely, live appearances by a professional wrestling and sports entertainers; Entertainment services, namely, personal appearances by a professional wrestler and sports entertainer; Entertainment services, namely, televised appearances by a professional wrestler and sports entertainer; Providing wrestling news and information via a global computer network; Providing online interviews featuring a professional wrestler and sports entertainer in the field of professional wrestling and sports entertainment for entertainment purposes
Naomi last appeared for WWE since she and Sasha Banks walked out of an episode of Raw last May.
Earlier this month, it was announced that Naomi will be appearing at the WrestleCon convention on Saturday, April 1 and April 2. Billed under her real name, it’s Naomi’s first appearance related to pro wrestling since she walked out of WWE.
Naomi confirmed in an Instagram comment on Thursday that her being announced for WrestleCon means that she’s no longer with WWE. Naomi was a two-time SmackDown Women’s Champion and a one-time Women’s Tag Team Champion during her WWE career. She and Banks were Women’s Tag Team Champions when they walked out of the company.
Former WWE women’s champion Naomi (real name Trinity Fatu) will be making a convention appearance during WrestleMania 39 weekend.
WrestleCon announced today that Fatu will appear at their convention in Los Angeles next month. Fatu will be at the convention on Saturday, April 1 and Sunday, April 2.
This will be Fatu’s first appearance related to pro wrestling since she and Mercedes Mone walked out of WWE last May. Fatu and Mone were the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions at the time they walked out.
During a signing for Golden Ring Collectibles recently, Ariane Andrew (former WWE wrestler Cameron) was asked about Fatu’s pro wrestling future. Andrew said Fatu is recovering from shoulder surgery.
“She is recovering from shoulder surgery. I want her to answer the question for herself. I know she’s recovering from shoulder surgery,” Andrew said. “I’m super proud of her, that’s my sister from another mister. You’ll have to ask her for yourself how she’s feeling, see if her shoulder is feeling good because she’s recovering right now.”
Fatu and Andrew formerly teamed together as The Funkadactyls in WWE.
WrestleCon 2023 is taking place from March 31 to April 2.
As her WWE tag team partner prepares to make an expected return to the wrestling stage on Wednesday in Japan, Naomi’s future is also getting some clarity: a return to WWE.
Our Bryan Alvarez reported on Tuesday’s Wrestling Observer Live that his impression is that Naomi would be returning to the company and will not be joining NJPW along with Sasha Banks.
“My belief is she will be returning to WWE, because she will almost certainly be returning to WWE,” he said. He did not give any return date or timeline.
WOL: Bryan Alvarez believes Naomi will be returning to WWE.
Then the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, Banks and Naomi walked out prior to an episode of WWE Raw in May 2022 due to issues with their creative direction. Their status and potential return to WWE has been a discussion point throughout the year, increasing after Vince McMahon resigned and Paul Levesque took over as head of creative as part of the new regime this summer.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including the Tokyo Dome tonight, RAW report from Monday with HARDENED CRIMINAL DOMINICK MYSTERIO, the dangers of getting old, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
The new issue of the Observer is up on the site with these stories:
*The life and times of Stephan Bonnar, a look at a person who was one of the key building blocks of the popularity of UFC, including the Forrest Griffin fight, his relationship with Griffin after the fight, season one of Ultimate Fighter and the building years, life after UFC, the feud with Tito Ortiz, his pro wrestling days and much more. *Match of the week and performer of the week *The WWE signing of Dragon Lee, full details of the deal, unique stipulations in the deal, how long WWE had been after him and what he told people he asked for decision making help *How AAA, WWE and AEW had talent on the same show, including in the same match and the unique situation there *Coverage of Wednesday’s AAA show in Acapulco, production issues, match to go out of your way to see *What AEW knew about Dragon Lee *Comparing his potential in AEW and WWE *WWE talks using Lee to help expand *A look at Stardom’s Sumo Hall show *A look at a lot of Stardom plans going forward *Dragon Gate’s Final Gate show *WWE does its traditional Christmas week show in Madison Square Garden *How the show did as compared with the last 13 years *The life and times of Hall of Famer Johnny Doyle, one of the great promoters of all-time *A detailed look at the ratings over the past week *Streaming numbers and international TV numbers *CMLL’s Jan. 1 cage match where somebody loses their mask *Konnan talks about his health *Cain Velasquez talks about his returning to wrestle and teaming with Daniel Cormier *All Japan bringing in Minoru Suzuki *NOAH’s Budokan Hall show *Tokyo Dome preview *Shibata vs. Tom Lawlor *Ricky Steamboat talks why he didn’t wrestle Ric Flair *Notes on the death of former WWE promoter Doc Holliday and why he was so well liked *Anniversary of the first splash off the cage top *AEW loses TV outlet in Canada and story behind it *Tony Khan says AEW isn’t going anywhere *Ticket sales for upcoming AEW & WWE shows *Bellator signs former Olympic medalist *WrestleMania updates *Mysterio family angle *Notes from all the WWE holiday house shows
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Monday Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking about Raw and the latest wrestling news. You can send questions to tonight’s show to [email protected]
Raw tonight is from Nashville. The only things announced are Austin Theory vs. Seth Rollins for the U.S. title and Bianca Belair vs. Alexa Bliss for the Raw women’s title. We’re looking for reports from the show as far as Main Event matches, dark matches and anything not on the live show to [email protected] As of this morning more than 8,600 tickets were out for the show so it will be a larger than usual crowd. As far as the competition goes, The NFL game tonight is the Cincinnati Bengals vs. Buffalo Bills, who are both division leaders and have two of the best records in the league. They aren’t big market teams but this is one of the strongest matchups as far as top teams go on Monday this seasonMike Johnson reported Summer Rae backstage but she lives in the area so it may not mean she’ll be on the show.
We’re doing polls this week on yesterday’s NOAH show and Thursday’s Stardom show, thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match to [email protected]
Sasha Banks appears on Barmageddon tonight after Raw. There is a competition scene with Nikki Bella on the show. This was taped a long time ago. Banks has been in Japan for the past week and is scheduled for the Tokyo Dome show for an appearance.
Regarding Trinity Fatu (Naomi) being in Japan as reported by Mike Johnson, we haven’t heard of anything scheduled for her as far as pro wrestling is concerned. There has been at this point nothing talked about on the Stardom side of things.
Speaking of Stardom, they have a PPV for the start of their long trios tournament from Korakuen Hall starting at 2 a.m Eastern time or 11 p.m. Pacific tonight.
Swerve Strickland, who is from Seattle, faces AR Fox on Wednesday’s Dynamite show. The two, as Killshot and Dante Fox, had one of the most unbelievable taped and edited matches in history when they were with Lucha Underground. The other matches are Samoa Joe vs. Darby Allin for the TNT title, The Acclaimed vs. Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal for the tag titles, Bryan Danielson vs. Tony Nese, Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Stars and Jade Cargill & Red Velvet vs. Kiera Hogan & Skye Blue, plus build for the next show in Los Angeles regarding the women’s mystery partner and Hangman Page vs. Jon Moxley.
The New Japan WrestleKingdom show at the Tokyo Dome will run from about 1:20 a.m. to 7a.m. Eastern time.
Oleg Boltin (debut of one of the best freestyle super heavyweights in the world) vs. Ryohei Oiwa
Rumble match for the final four for the KOPW title (which will be decided the next night)
Togi Makabe & Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Minoru Suzuki & Tiger Mask in the Antonio Inoki Memorial match
Francesco Akira & TJP vs. Lio Rush & Yoh for the IWGP jr. tag titles
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ren Narita to crown the first New Japan World TV champion
Karl Anderson vs. Tama Tonga for the Never title
Kairi vs. Tam Nakano for the IWGP women’s title
Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shota Umino vs Tetsuya Naito & Sanada & Bushi
Taiji Ishimori vs. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Desperado vs. Master Wato for IWGP jr. title
FTR vs. Yoshi-Hashi & Hirooki Goto for IWGP tag titles
Will Ospreay vs. Kenny Omega for U.S title
Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada for IWGP World title
The Tokyo Dome press conference is at 1 a.m. Eastern tonight on New Japan World, or 10 p.m. Pacific. It will air free and you don’t have to be a subscriber to the service to watch it.
The first new Impact show of the year on Thursday will have Chris Sabin vs. Matt Cardona, Anthony Greene vs. Black Taurus, Masha Slamovich vs. Taylor Wilde and Jonathan Gresham vs. Jack Price.
Renee Paquette will be on the Rachel Ray TV show on Wednesday cooking Cincinnati chili.
Spencer Churchill, who was one of the oldest living pro wrestlers, passed away at the age of 93. He wrestled in the U.K.from the early 50s through 1977 and was a Mr. Universe place-winner and on bodybuilding magazine covers from the late 40s.
Jake Paul said that he’s not interested in a fight proposed with former UFC star Donald Cerrone. Paul said he’s tired of beating up old dudes. Translated, after the fight with Anderson Silva did weak numbers on PPV, the gig of facing smaller and past their prime UFC fighters under boxing rules is probably over as far as significant public buying power. Perhaps Nate Diaz can draw with him. But the days of Cerrone pulling big numbers against him are over and he knows it.
OTHER NOTES
Pro Wrestling Phoenix on 1/26 at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha.
Sabu will make a rare Northern California appearance on 1/21 at Barrio Toys in Roseville, CA from 2-4 p.m.
Kendall Grove, 40, who was one of the more popular fighters in the early days of the Ultimate Fighter reality show, was announced for the main event of the KSW show in a 195 pound weight division fight against Michal Materia on 1/21 in Szczecin, Poland at Netto Arena. They fought in 2013 for the KSW middleweight title with Materia winning a decision. Grove hasn’t fought in more than three years. That was one of the bloodiest fights in Poland MMA history.
Sasha Banks’ tag team partner is reportedly headed to Tokyo as well.
According to a report from PWInsider, Naomi is “currently slated to be in Japan” but it is not clear if she will be taking part in Wrestle Kingdom 17 on Wednesday, January 4, 2023.
New Japan sources would not confirm that Naomi will be at the event and “intimated she was coming of her own accord.” Naomi may be traveling to the event to support Banks rather than to appear on the show herself.
Banks will not be wrestling at Wrestle Kingdom but is expected to appear at the event in some capacity.
Our own Dave Meltzer addressed Banks’ situation in the December 16 edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. He noted that in addition to dates with NJPW, Banks is expected to wrestle a match for Stardom in the spring as well.
Meltzer wrote:
“[Banks’] deal is with New Japan but would include one date for Stardom. That would be for a show that is expected in April, but the company had planned for the biggest show in its history, which will tentatively be announced on 12/29 at the Stardom Sumo Hall show.”
Stardom has since announced All Star Grand Queendom 2023 for April 23, 2023 in the Yokohama Arena.
Banks and Naomi won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships on night two of WrestleMania 38. The titles were vacated after both Banks and Naomi walked out of the May 16, 2022 edition of WWE Raw.
Wrestling’s stars were out for Wednesday’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever premiere in Los Angeles.
Sasha Banks, Naomi, plus WWE’s The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods) and Jimmy Uso walked the purple carpet at the Marvel Studios premiere.
The stars posted content from the premiere on their social media channels:
Earlier Wednesday, Banks and Naomi were announced for a panel at Vulture Festival in Los Angeles on November 12.
Banks and Naomi walked out of a WWE Raw taping on May 16, vacating the Women’s Tag Team Championship. The team were then suspended indefinitely by former WWE chairman Vince McMahon, and publicly buried on commentary by Michael Cole.
Reports later suggested that Banks had received a WWE release, reports that WWE has never confirmed nor denied. Still more reports would later suggest that Banks and Naomi had reached a deal to return to the company, although no return to WWE has officially been announced.
A sequel to 2018’s Black Panther and the 30th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Wakanda Forever will be released across the United States on November 11.
Sasha Banks and Naomi will take part in Vulture Festival 2022.
In an event announced today, Banks (billed as Mercedes Varnado) and Naomi (billed as Trinity Fatu) will “just vibe for like an hour” at Vulture’s pop culture event in Los Angeles on Saturday, November 12.
Vulture writes:
Have you ever been in the presence of real legends? Well, lucky you because this is your opportunity to see Mercedes Varnado and Trinity Fatu (also known as Sasha Banks and Naomi of WWE Superstar fame) live and in person for one night only. We’ll look back on some of their favorite memories, play some games, and maybe even do a little dancing? No bad vibes and nothing out of pocket — just a fun night feeling the glow with two legit bosses we’ve missed a whole lot.
Vulture Festival is a pop culture spectacle where Vulture (the website, not the bird) comes to life right before your very eyes. Curated by our very own editors, it’s a weekend of live and in-person panels with some of your favorite stars and creators, where we can all obsess together over the culture we so love.
Vulture Festival will be held at The Hollywood Roosevelt. Tickets for Varnado and Fatu’s event are on sale, with prices ranging from $25 to $37. Jamie Lee Curtis, Kumail Nanjiani, and Henry Winkler are among other celebrities advertised for panels at the event.
Banks and Naomi walked out of WWE on May 16, vacating the Women’s Tag Team Championship in the process. The pair were suspended indefinitely by former WWE chairman Vince McMahon.
Reports later suggested that at least Banks had received her WWE release, reports that WWE has never confirmed nor denied. Still more reports would later suggest that Banks and Naomi had reached a deal to return to the company.
Though no return to WWE has officially been announced, WWE is mentioned by name in the Vulture announcement. Additionally, Banks is advertised for a season one episode of USA Network’s Barmageddon, which premieres on December 5. Additionally, Varnado posted photos from a training session at a wrestling school in Barcelona, Spain.
Varnado has also partnered with former WWE star Kalisto and his wife Abigail in the Kanndela Labs CBD company, which won Best Newcomer in the World CBD Awards last week in Barcelona.
Sasha Banks has opened up about her modeling debut at New York Fashion Week.
She was joined by her tag team partner, Naomi, as they walked the runway last week in shows for Mister Triple X and Jessica Jade. Banks spoke to Page Six Style about the experience.
“It felt chaotic. It felt like my first wrestling match all over again!” she said.
“I’m back to being the new girl. It felt like everyone was like, ‘Who’s this? Who’s taking my spot?’ But I just had to walk in with confidence like I knew what I was doing because this has been a dream of mine for such a long time, to be in the modeling space.”
Banks also spoke about her ring-name being a tribute to model/actress, Tyra Banks
“Tyra, Adriana Lima, I grew up watching all of the Victoria’s Secret girls, so I always dreamt of being on a runway,” Banks continued. “Watching those girls, I was always like, ‘I want to have wings one day.’”
Banks commented on Naomi having participated in the event as well.
“Trinity is my best friend, my soul sister, my partner in everything,” Banks said. “While I was channeling Tyra, Trinity was serving Naomi Campbell on the runway.”
“I want to walk in Paris and Milan next, but I’m also just trying to make my way through this modeling world and get in all the magazines. Vogue feels like a good start,” Banks continued.
“To put on these beautiful, larger-than-life wedding dresses, I just felt like the queen, the princess, the boss that I am.”
Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque recently commented on the possibility of Banks returning to WWE during an interview with Ariel Helwani.
“Time will tell. I think in a lot of ways communication breakdowns are terrible. There was a communication breakdown there, for whatever reason. Starting back up that communication is not a difficult process but it can be a process and you have to go through the process. But she’s an unbelievably talented woman who can do just about anything she wants, it just comes down to what does she want to do now.”
“She’s an unbelievable performer that I believe in with everything I have,” Levesque said.
Naomi and Banks appeared together at C2E2 in August. They also attended at the premiere for Disney’s She-Hulk later that month.
Following their walkout from WWE and in advance of a potential return, Bayley just wants Sasha Banks and Naomi to know that she supports them.
While speaking with Sports Illustrated ahead of this weekend’s Clash at the Castle pay-per-view, Bayley was asked about Banks and Naomi potentially coming back to WWE. Bayley said she hasn’t thought about whether she, Dakota Kai, and IYO SKY would align with Banks and Naomi or fight against them.
“I haven’t thought about whether they would join or whether we would be against them, but something would arise,” Bayley said. “I just want them to know I support them 100 percent, no matter what.”
Banks and Naomi haven’t appeared on WWE programming since walking out of an episode of Raw this May. Banks and Naomi walked out of the show after taking issue with their creative direction.
Paul “Triple H” Levesque also discussed Banks’ status during an interview with BT Sport that was released on Friday.
“Time will tell. I think in a lot of ways communication breakdowns are terrible. There was a communication breakdown there, for whatever reason. Starting back up that communication is not a difficult process but it can be a process and you have to go through the process. But [Banks is] an unbelievably talented woman who can do just about anything she wants, it just comes down to what does she want to do now,” Levesque said.
“She’s an unbelievable performer that I believe in with everything I have.”
One year after suffering a torn ACL, Bayley made her return at SummerSlam, joining forces with Kai and SKY. Bayley, Kai & SKY will face Bianca Belair, Asuka & Alexa Bliss in a six-woman tag match at Clash at the Castle this Saturday.
While they have yet to return to WWE, Sasha Banks (Mercedes Varnado) and Naomi (Trinity Fatu) were busy on Monday night.
Banks and Naomi were both in attendance at the premiere for Disney+ and Marvel Studios’ “She-Hulk: Attorney in Law” in Los Angeles on Monday. Banks shared photos of her and Naomi on the red carpet:
Banks has a connection to Disney+, having appeared on episodes of “The Mandalorian.”
Banks and Naomi also made a public appearance earlier this month when they were guests at the C2E2 convention in Chicago.
Though they haven’t been on WWE television since walking out of Raw this May, it was reported on August 1 that Banks & Naomi have reached a deal to return to WWE.
Banks & Naomi were WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions when they walked out of Raw. A tournament is currently ongoing to crown the new champions. IYO SKY & Dakota Kai, Asuka & Alexa Bliss, and Raquel Rodriguez & Aliyah have already advanced to the semifinals. The fourth team to make the semifinals will either be Natalya & Sonya Deville or Nikkita Lyons & Zoey Stark.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including updates from the Ric Flair show, Becky injury update, Ronda Rousey’s storyline suspension, Sasha and Naomi potentially returning, ratings, Women of Wrestling getting TV, AEW and NXT previews, RAW report and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: Ric Flair’s Last Match notes
7:04: Becky Lynch seperates shoulder
8:50: Ronda Rousey ‘suspended’, update on Sasha Banks & Naomi possibly returning to WWE
10:10: NXT, AEW previews
12:40: Ratings
16:34: Women of Wrestling entering syndication in the fall
It appears that Sasha Banks and Naomi could soon be returning to WWE.
WrestlingNews.co reported on Monday that they’ve been told “an agreement has been reached for Sasha Banks and Naomi to return to [WWE].” The report stated that there “is a belief backstage that we may see them return on tonight’s [Raw] or in the near future under Triple H’s regime.”
Banks and Naomi haven’t appeared on WWE television since walking out of an episode of Raw this May. Banks and Naomi walked out after taking issue with their creative direction.
After Banks and Naomi walked out, WWE suspended both indefinitely and announced that the Women’s Tag Team titles were now vacant. It was said that a tournament would be held to crown new champions, but that tournament hasn’t taken place.
On Wrestling Observer Live this afternoon, Bryan Alvarez addressed WrestlingNews.co’s report.
“I am not 100 percent confirming this, but since everybody is asking about it, I do have one source who is saying that, ‘Yes, Sasha and Naomi have made a deal to return,'” Alvarez said. “So we’ll know more I’m sure within two hours. But I’ll just say I think it’s true. I’m pretty sure. But I can’t say 100 percent.”
Raj Giri of Wrestling Inc reported in June that Banks had received her release from WWE. WWE hasn’t confirmed that report or commented on it.
Banks and Naomi are both set to appear at the C2E2 (Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo) convention in Chicago this weekend.
With Paul “Triple H” Levesque now in charge of creative, the WWE women’s division was also bolstered with Bayley, Dakota Kai, and Io Shirai (now going by the name IYO SKY) returning at SummerSlam.