What’s your favorite wrestling match? Why? What makes it great? Maybe it’s nostalgia, your favorite wrestler winning the big one, or what made you fall in love with wrestling.
The beauty of professional wrestling is that it has something for everyone.
Do you like huge, bulky, muscular guys?
There are thousands of them.
Do you like smaller wrestlers who flip through the air?
Congrats, there are companies specializing in them.
Do you like the silly, comedic side?
There’s a company for that.
If, like me, you love women’s wrestling, there are companies for that.
My favorite match of all time is Sasha Banks vs Bayley’s Ironwoman match for the NXT Women’s Championship. It helped cement Sasha Banks as my favorite women’s wrestler of all time.
Let’s set the scene. It’s 2015, and we zoom in on WWE’s developmental brand NXT.
The Four Horsewomen — Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Bayley, and Sasha Banks — have revolutionized the women’s division in WWE. The Horsewomen got their name from the Four Horsemen, with its members originally being Flair’s father Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Ole Anderson, and Tully Blanchard. The women were united for their love of wrestling and their determination to change the way WWE viewed their female talent.
With the main roster debut of Flair, Lynch, and Banks, former WWE chairwoman and CEO Stephanie McMahon announced the era of Divas was over and a new era of the women’s division would begin. Because of the talent and caliber of wrestling the women showed on NXT, they changed how the women’s division was treated. The Four Horsewomen were looked to as the future after years of the Divas division on the main roster dumbing down the skillset of their women’s division.
Throughout their time in NXT, the four women had been both the best of friends and the bitterest of enemies, perhaps no duo in the group doing this better than Sasha Banks and Bayley.
Photo credit: The Telegraph
Bayley and Sasha Banks had clashed and would clash many times. Their fundamental issues were that Banks did not take Bayley seriously, considering her childish and immature, and not worthy of being in the same ring as her or the other Horsewomen. Bayley, in turn, would argue that she earned her stripes, deserving to be respected just as much as her fellow Horsewomen.
Bayley versus Sasha Banks was the perfect culmination of everything people love about wrestling. Sasha was an angry, arrogant heel who believed herself to be the greatest of all time. Bayley was a white meat, pure babyface with a heart of gold and a fanbase of kids, with one shown on TV frequently. The fan, Izzy, became a focal point of the feud between Banks and Bayley, with Sasha taunting the girl who came out in mini Bayley gears every week, sitting in the front row to see her idol.
While Bayley had defeated Sasha for the title at the previous event, TakeOver: Brooklyn, she still needed to gain the full respect of Banks. Sasha claimed that Bayley only had her respect for that night, but no matter how good Bayley could be, she would never be as good as Sasha Banks.
Sasha Banks versus Bayley at TakeOver: Brooklyn is largely considered to be the greatest women’s wrestling match in North American history. It kick-started the women’s revolution in wrestling, pivoting the respect and attention women’s wrestling got from viewers. No longer did viewers see women’s wrestlers as sex symbols, instead they were wrestlers. They could be fantastic wrestlers, ones that deserved to be in the main event.
Bayley versus Sasha at TakeOver: Brooklyn is an excellent match. But their Ironwoman match cemented everything I had already known about the women.
They were the best in the company.
When you give women the time to wrestle, they would produce pure magic. Bayley and Sasha earned their main event spot, and this was the time to highlight why they were half of the Four Horsewomen.
Photo credit: PhillyVoice
Sasha was the perfect, cruel evil heel. She had poked Bayley in the eyes to gain the first pinfall victory. She gleefully allowed a cheap count-out to get a 2-1 lead. Throughout the match, Sasha was thrilled to have the psychological upper hand against Bayley: Banks wasn’t afraid to play dirty to win.
Bayley wrestled with her golden heart on her sleeve. She would refuse to play tricks or do anything that could cheapen her win. Sasha took joy in her aggression, throwing Bayley against the LED board and snatching the Bayley headband away from a horrified Izzy in the crowd.
After Banks slipped up, Bayley flipped Banks over to quickly pin her, tying the match again. Furious, Banks had tried to strengthen her attack, angry at Bayley and angry at the crowd for cheering Bayley on. Sensing the clock ticking down, the women began throwing everything they had at one another, determined to gain another fall. Meanwhile, the Full Sail crowd cheered them on, chanting “Women’s wrestling” and “This is wrestling.”
With every kick out Bayley would do, Sasha would pull another card out of her hat. She mocked the Bayley Buddies, throwing Bayley as hard she could into the ring post, hitting Bayley as hard as she could. When Bayley would still kick out, Banks would scream out in frustration.
The magical thing about pro wrestling is we are frequently fed the same story: a pure-hearted babyface that faces off against a darkened heel. The heel taunts the babyface that they can never get the job done, how they’re too soft when the time comes. And yet, we will see a moment in the match where the babyface snaps, fighting back with aggression not yet shown by them before.
The same happened with Bayley and Banks. The score had tied at two and was quickly running out. Banks had trapped Bayley in the Banks Statement, a backstabber transitioning into a crossface. Desperate, Bayley trapped her opponent in a double-arm submission, yanking on The Boss' fingers. Following this, Bayley began stomping on Sasha’s face and relentlessly kicked until the challenger had no choice but to tap out.
Photo credit: Sportskeeda
Despite losing the match, Sasha Banks was still given a standing ovation by the NXT locker room and the Full Sail crowd. At 23 years old, she was given her flowers by management, tears in her eyes as the crowd chanted “Thank you, Sasha.”
From that moment, Sasha Banks established herself as the greatest women’s wrestler in the world. From that moment, she was determined to prove to everyone why she was the best. There were always sparks of her brilliance: fighting for the women’s championship at Wrestlemania 32 against Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch, fighting at the first-ever women’s Hell in a Cell match against Flair, and wrestling against Alexa Bliss in the first women’s match in Abu Dhabi. Whenever there was a time for something new to happen in the women’s division, Banks was always there.
In 2019, Sasha and Bayley won the inaugural WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship, something Sasha had mentioned since 2018 that she wanted for herself and Bayley. The Boss n’ Hug Connection, as they were known, would lose the titles to the IIconic 49 days later at Wrestlemania 35, something the women were allegedly told last minute. Soon after, Banks canceled an appearance on the Wendy Williams Show, sparking rumors she wanted to leave WWE due to frustrations with how the booking of the tag division was handled.
Sasha would not appear on WWE television for four months. She would again team with Bayley, this time as heels. Sasha would reignite a feud with Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch, culminating in the second-ever women’s Hell in a Cell match for the title, though Banks would be unsuccessful in claiming the title.
Banks and Bayley would be drafted to SmackDown, a feud bubbling beneath the surface between the two. Sasha would insinuate that she was the reason for the group’s success, while Bayley was at fault for all of Banks’ failures. Despite the tension, the duo proclaim themselves as the Golden Role Models of the women’s division, eventually winning the Women’s Tag Team Championship from Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross for a record-setting second time. The Golden Role Models would defend their titles against teams on all brands, including former champions Bliss and Cross, the IIconics on Raw, and Tegan Nox and Shotzi on NXT.
During this time, Sasha and Bayley would begin feuding with Raw Women’s Champion Asuka. Eventually, Sasha would win the title from Asuka for a record-breaking fifth reign. With this win, the Golden Role Models would be the first tag team in history to hold every women’s title, while also being the first team since the Two Man Power Trip to all available titles in their divisions. After losing their tag titles and the rematch to Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler in September 2020, Bayley would attack Banks.
The Ironwomen would wrestle in Hell in a Cell, with Banks winning the SmackDown championship from her former best friend. She would successfully defend the title on the November 6th episode of SmackDown against Bayley, ending a string of unsuccessful main roster single title defenses.
Sasha soon after began feuding with new star Bianca Belair after Belair won the women’s 2021 Royal Rumble. Choosing Banks as her opponent in the main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania 37, Banks was once again at the forefront of making history: for the first time in WWE’s history, two Black women would face each other in a main event match. Sasha would lose to Belair.
On February 25, Naomi announced on SmackDown that she and Banks were challenging for the Women’s Tag Titles. On Night 2 of WrestleMania 37, Banks and Naomi won the titles, ending Banks’ WrestleMania losing streak. It was the first time in the company’s history that two Black women would hold the championship.
Their title defense on the May 13th episode of SmackDown would be Sasha Banks’ last televised appearance for WWE. Her last match would be a WWE Live event on May 15th, as she and Naomi walked out of WWE the next day due to frustrations with the women’s tag division’s booking. Sasha once again felt like the tag division was an afterthought in Vince McMahon’s mind. After being suspended by WWE, the company announced in December 2022 that Banks would not renew her contract as negotiations with the company had fallen.
Photo credit: Cageside Seats
Rebranding herself as Mercedes Moné, she would appear at Wrestle Kingdom 17 in New Japan Pro Wrestling on January 4, 2023. After attacking another former WWE star, Kairi, Merecedes announced that she signed with NJPW and its sister promotion Stardom. She would win the IWGP Women’s Championship from Kairi at Battle in the Valley on February 18th, wearing gear inspired by Stardom alumni Hana Kimura, whose passing inspired Mercedes to wrestle in Japan.
After losing the title to Mayu Iwatani at Stardom All-Star Grand Queendom, Moné participated in a tournament to crown the inaugural Strong Women’s Champion, ultimately losing to Willow Nightingale. Moné would unfortunately suffer an ankle injury, putting her on the shelf for several months.
While injured, Moné would make a cameo at All Elite Wrestling’s All-In event in London, rumors swirling if she had signed with the company. Mercedes would remain silent for months before officially debuting in AEW during the Big Business event of AEW Dynamite on March 13.
Whether she’s wrestling as Sasha Banks or Mercedes Moné, Mercedes Varnado is one of the greatest women’s wrestling stars in the world. She is undeniably one of the greatest of all time, always the center of the conversation regardless of the company she is in.
Mercedes was always there to be at the forefront of history, always there for the big matches that others would become inspired by. She set records and broke records. If WWE needed her as a cold heel, she was there; if she needed to be a sweet babyface regretful of her previous actions, Mercedes was there. If Mercedes had to usher in new talent, she was always willing to put them over.
Mercedes lived her dream in WWE and knew her worth when she felt like they no longer saw it. So she set off for a new dream, determined to change the world of pro wrestling again.
She is an Ironwoman, a Grand Slam Champion, the Boss, the CEO, a history maker, the greatest of all time.
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