The last time WWE fans saw Mercedes Mone (formerly Sasha Banks) in WWE was May 2022 when she was one-half of the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions alongside Naomi.
Mone & Naomi reportedly walked out of WWE ahead of the May 16, 2022 episode of WWE Raw after meeting with Vince McMahon over their creative direction. They were subsequently suspended by WWE.
Mone officially left WWE in January 2023, becoming a free agent and signing with NJPW.
Appearing at Planet Comic Con, Mone was asked about her WWE departure and if she thought about returning under the new regime.
"First of all, nobody knows the story. You don't know the story. You're reading whatever you want to read and believing whatever you want to believe. Nobody knows the story because I haven't said anything, and I'm not going to say anything because that's just the classy boss that I am, and CEO. One thing, it's up to them. It's up to Dakota (Kai) and everyone else that wants to come back. That's great for them and awesome. That's their dream, but I went after mine, which is going to Japan. You have to follow your heart and follow your soul and follow your dreams. This was always, always, always a dream of mine that I never got to accomplish. As I am growing in my career, I had been in WWE for almost ten years, I had to have a change and I had to feel something different in my heart and my soul. I had to go after a whole new dream, a whole new chapter, and a whole new destiny for me. This is where I want to be and what I want to make happen for me. That's it. This is what I'm going for and this is my dream," she said.
Mone made her NJPW debut at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17, attacking KAIRI. She would go on to defeat KAIRI at NJPW Battle in the Valley to win the IWGP Women's Championship.
Naomi has not returned to WWE television or wrestling since leaving alongside Mone.
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