It’s a hot summer night in New York City, fans are filing into the Barclays Center for the first-ever NXT special on tour that was known as NXT TakeOver. The date is Aug. 22, 2015, the night before “the biggest party in the Summer” Summerslam. In the semi-main event of the show, we saw the first one on one match between rising stars Sasha Banks and Bayley go head-to-head in a match that would change the landscape of women’s pro wrestling in the west forever.
Women’s wrestling in the west, specifically in the WWE, was not in the best state of representation for the industry at the time. What was called the Divas’ division at the time on the main roster saw their matches average about three minutes and was decades behind the rest of the world in terms of ring work compared to Japan’s AJW (All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling) and even the TNA Knockouts division from 2007-2013. In 2013 while that was happening on the main rosters Divas division, there was the creation of this little developmental brand known as NXT, which had their women’s division pulling out matches that were double the time of the Divas division and ring work that was years ahead of what was on weekly TV. They let the women in NXT build up stories that didn’t revolve around the belt or troupes that were used on the main roster, and had a fully fleshed-out roster of colorful characters. Main roster talent and fans were not happy about the disparity between both divisions at the time.
During a Monday Night Raw episode on Feb. 23, 2015, the one women’s match on a three-hour program saw the team of Paige & Emma vs The Bella Twins in a 30-second match, shorter than some commercials that air on the show. Fans at home, disgusted with the match, took to Twitter that night to show their frustrations with the hashtag #GiveDivasAChance which trended for a few days worldwide. WWE management, aware of the backlash, saw Vince McMahon himself tweet out “We hear you. Keep watching. #GiveDivasAChance” Fast-forward to July 2015 that same year Stephanie McMahon during Monday Night Raw talked about wanting a women’s revolution, and it would start with the top names of the NXT division at the time — Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks.
Sasha Banks alongside Bayley were the two staple characters of the women’s division in NXT at the time. Bayley was this loveable happy-go-lucky infectious bubbly personality who was so in awe and happy to be working in the company she grew up watching like me and you. And then you have her polar opposite in Sasha Banks, who was a no-nonsense bad bitch that was ready to take everything in her path to be the best. The confidence that she exuded was also infectious, and you couldn’t help but find her to be cool and truly “The Boss” of the division and the company as a whole.
I, a 22 naïve wrestling fan just tossed aside women’s wrestling as nothing but a bathroom break or background noise when growing up was in awe of the work being put out by not just these two women on weekly NXT TV but the entire division. The work being put in was in the same vein as the TNA Knockouts division did from 2007-2013. The push for women’s wrestling was well established with how crowds and online audiences were reacting to the characters and work positively. Now the groundwork and storytelling had been laid between both Bayley and Sasha Banks, two polar opposites of each other but wanting the same end goal, and that was to be the best pro wrestler in the world. I was having so much fun watching the story unfold at the time, I was more of a Sasha Banks fan and didn’t vibe with Bayley’s character, which I thought was corny at the time. So now back to that fateful night on Aug. 22, 2015. I was so excited to attend this because it was a completely different atmosphere compared to main roster WWE at the time. The show was electric and saw a card of different varieties including a one-off match featuring legend Jushin Thunder Liger to ever happen under the WWE umbrella. But now it’s time for the semi-main event for the NXT Women’s Championship of Bayley vs Sasha Banks. Sasha and Bayley have worked so hard for this moment and in front of over 15,000 they were able to tell a story in the ring that was never done in their respective division at the time.
While in attendance for this match, I will say I had never heard a reaction this loud for women’s wrestling from the several different WWE events I had attended beforehand. The crowd was on fire from the video package through the entrances up until the end of the bout. The match saw Sasha Banks and what I would say is her peak heel work and ring work in general. Bayley was possibly the best babyface at the time not named Sami Zayn in the company, and fans ate everything up. Bayley came into the match not 100 percent with an injured hand, and Sasha made sure to abuse that to her full advantage.
The match starts off hot, with both opponents trash-talking each other and trading forearms to a hot crowd. We see some more back-and-forth action between the two. Bayley was able to hold her own, but you can tell she was rattled from the trash-talking that Sasha Banks was known for during her matches, which affected Bayley and gave Sasha Banks an opening outside the ring. Sasha had taken advantage of Bayley’s hand, which was in a brace coming into the fight. Banks removes the brace and goes for some offense on the hand, slamming her hand anywhere she could, including putting her hand between the steel steps and the ring and smashing the steeps into her hand with her boot.
The crowd was stunned at the thought of the sheer violence they were seeing and thought maybe Bayley broke her hand. Sasha Banks recollected herself and headed back into the ring for more of her signature trash-talking while the referee is checking in on Bayley if she could continue when, then, we see Sasha Banks run the ropes and jump over referee Danilo Anfibio with a topé con hilo on to a hurt Bayley. I and the other 15,000-plus all screamed and shouted at the athleticism “The Boss” put on display. No one on the main roster was doing any of the things the women were busting out during this night.
The action returned to the ring and Sasha began taunting Bayley even further with a slap to her face that was heard across the arena. Both Banks and Bayley traded moves and near falls while I’m on the edge of my seat surrounded by 15 thousand other fans doing just the same. The arena at this point is split down the middle with deafening “let’s go Sasha” and “let’s go Bayley” chants.
The finish to the match was unlike I have ever seen in a women’s wrestling match at the time. Sasha Banks in total control of the match in the closing stretch places Bayley on the top turnbuckle. Bayley with the fight still left in her managed to fend off Banks for a bit with furious elbows, with a dazed and rattled Sasha, she ascends to the top turnbuckle with Bayley by her side. Bayley still trying to fight off with forearm and elbow shots to Bank’s head manages to take control when we see Bayley climb the top rope and get into the electric chair position on Sasha’s shoulders. And it was from that moment the perspective of what women’s wrestling can be in the west changed. Bayley hit the Poisonrana on Banks to a massive pop. I got out of my seat and was high-fiving strangers who were all there just the same, witnessing history. Bayley managed to tighten her hair bow and hits a Bayley-to-Belly to secure the pin-fall and be crowned the new NXT Women’s Champion.
From that moment on, I saw what women’s wrestling could and should be. I would dare say Sasha Banks/Mercedes Moné is possibly the greatest women’s wrestler in the west. From that match forward, the landscape of women’s wrestling changed for the better. Fast-forward eight years later to Jan. 4, 2023, Mercedes Moné, the former Sasha Banks, embarks on a journey that saw her leave the WWE to bet on herself and live out a long life dream she had and that was to wrestle in Japan. Joshi Puroresu, which is the Japanese term for Japanese female professional wrestling has a long-storied history dating back to the 1950s and is quite possibly the best form of women’s wrestling in the world. Mercedes in the earlier half of her career fought just like a Joshi, with the intention to hurt her opponents and the disregard for her own body in order to achieve victory. There are many prominent names that have shaped Mercedes’ in-ring style and presence from legends such as Bull Nakano, Manami Toyota, Akira Hokuto, Aja Kong, and The Crush Gals — Lioness Asuka and Chigusa Nagayo — and many more.
Rumors were swirling and anticipation is at an all-time high for the return of Sasha Banks to a wrestling ring. It’s Wrestle Kingdom 17, Jan. 4, 2023, this is New Japan Pro Wrestling’s biggest event of the year akin to the west’s WrestleMania. NJPW just two months prior had kicked started what would be their women’s division with the crowning of the first-ever IWGP Women’s Champion. The match to crown the champion saw “The Icon” Mayu Iwatani go head-to-head with the “Pirate Princess” KAIRI. The bout is regarded as one of the best matches in a packed 2022. Both KAIRI and Mayu Iwatani alongside current WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion the “Genius of The Sky” IYO SKY, formerly Io Shirai, were known as “Threedom” These three were considered the pillars and foundation that shaped STARDOM into what it currently is today. These three were in parallel with Sasha Banks in terms of style and presence.
Wrestle Kingdom 17 saw the first title defense from KAIRI against Tam Nakano, in a hard-hitting bout that was met with controversy because of the length of the match. KAIRI was successful in her defense at the Tokyo Dome show, raising her arms in the air when the lights go out. When we hear the sound of a car rev up and the sound of ‘cha-ching’ that a mechanical cash register makes. When we see on the entrance video the words flash “Mercedes Moné” she makes her way down the famous long ramp of the Tokyo Dome and a completely new look and attitude. Now referring to herself as “The CEO,” called her shot on taking over the women’s division in NJPW and claiming the IWGP Women’s Championship as she hits a shocked and battered KAIRI with her new finisher the Moné Maker. Watching this live as it unfolded on my screen was surreal, and I didn’t think something of this magnitude would happen. The women that had made a change to women’s wrestling in the west were about to embark on a journey that could also alter the future of the sport for women and others to bet on themselves and not settle for less. It had been nine months at this point since the now-named Mercedes Moné had been in a wrestling ring, and she was here to prove herself and fulfill her lifelong dream of wrestling in Japan.
“The CEO” Mercedes Moné makes a statement of how she wants to take NJPW and women’s wrestling to a new global level. She throws names out that she would love to challenge and prove herself to, such as retired legend Manami Toyota and STARDOM’s current High-Speed Champion AZM. But now the stage is set as it was announced NJPW’s first show in the United States for 2023 would be in San Jose, California – Battle in The Valley. The show sold out in four days just off the one match announced that would see KAIRI defend her IWGP Women’s Championship againstMercedes Moné, in Moné’s first match in a NJPW ring. KAIRI and Mercedes have had prior history from their time in the WWE, so this was possibly the best matchup Mercedes Moné could ever ask for to make her debut in a NJPW ring.
It is now Feb. 18, 2023 Battle in The Valley in San Jose, California in the co-main event “The Pirate Princess” vs. Mercedes Moné for the IWGP Women’s Champion Ship. A lot is riding on this match, as fans had self-doubt that Mercedes would deliver on her end. But you must never doubt the CEO because she delivered and more on this night. Her entrance had inspirations of STARDOM’s faction Oedo Tai’s dance routine and her gear that was in tribute to the late Hana Kimura. It was beautifully done, and “The CEO” looked and felt different from her counterpart, Sasha Banks.
The bell sound as both women stared each other down and take in the adulation of the crowd. This match felt like a spiritual successor to Bayley vs. Sasha Banks from NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn. Both women showed how hard-hitting and dangerous Joshi wrestling can be. Mercedes didn’t miss a step with her nine months away from in-ring action. During her time away, she was able to train in Mexico to hone the lucha libre style that she had implemented during her time in WWE. KAIRI also gave her best to Mercedes, and this is possibly KAIRI’s second-best match since her return to STARDOM/Japan. Mercedes was channeling her child hero Eddie Guerrero throughout the match. Moné was taking just insane drops on her neck that we haven’t seen since her run in the WWE in 2016. Mercedes Moné at one point even hit the Bayley-to-Belly in tribute to her best friend, WWE Superstar Bayley.
The match was about 20 minutes in and saw both women fight up the ramp, which saw KAIRI jump off the stage and then be caught in midair by Mercedes who then applied the cross face. We then see Mercedes pull a table out from under the ramp, where she attempted to hit KAIRI with a suplex onto the table off of stage equipment. KAIRI blocks the attempt and hits Mercedes with the nastiest looking powerbomb into the table. KAIRI dragged the lifeless Mercedes to the ring to finish her off with an Insane Elbow, which was then blocked by Moné’s legs. KAIRI was down holding her arm in agony as we saw Mercedes climb up to the top rope for an attempted Frog Splash that was also blocked by KAIRI which had KAIRI transition into a Crossface. Mercedes has made it this far into the match, it was past 25 minutes, and she was not going to give up.
Moné fought off the submission as we saw both women on the floor back to back struggling to get up as both of them locked arms and began to roll around the ring fighting for the first one to get the advantage to close out the match. While both women are still locked arm and arm together, Mercedes was able to find the strength to overtake KAIRI and lift her up on her back, and hit her ‘Moné Maker’ as she did at the Tokyo Dome during her debut. Mercedes earned the victory to become the second-ever IWGP Women’s Champion and was able to successfully prove her worth and why she was promoted from “The Boss” to “The CEO.”
Mercedes was able to win her first match under the NJPW banner in one of the best matches this year so far. The match made me feel something like I did from Sasha Banks vs. Bayley from TakOver: Brooklyn 2015. This was just the first stop on the worldwide, global domination of “The CEO.” When all is said and done, I truly believe Mercedes Moné will go down in history as part of the greatest gaijins to step foot in a Japanese ring with the likes such as Kenny Omega and Stan Hansen. Mercedes Moné is truly “The CEO” of the women’s division, and I truly look forward to the rest of the year of matches that we have yet to see. We have only just scratched the surface of what Mercedes is capable of in Japan and women’s wrestling.
WHERE TO WATCH: FITE TV
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