Former WWE Women's Star 'Loves' Seeing Sasha Banks Bet On Herself By Leaving

Many pro wrestling fans have resigned to the possibility that Sasha Banks is no longer returning to WWE, and new All Elite Wrestling (AEW) acquisition Saraya is delighted to see what the latter is seemingly about to do.

Better known as Paige during her WWE days, Saraya had an exclusive interview with Metro UK and sent a lot of support in Banks' direction.

"I love the fact that she took her career into her own hands, and she knows her worth and she knows she wants to be treated a certain way, and she deserves to be treated that way because she's done a lot for the wrestling business," Saraya said.

"She's one of the girls that puts butts in seats, and you want to see wrestle and you wanna see main event. She deserves all those things."

The WWE career of "The Legit Boss" appears to be completely over at this point after Pro Wrestling Insider (PWI) reported that Banks' appearance at New Japan Pro Wrestling's (NJPW) Wrestle Kingdom 17 extravaganza on Wednesday, January 4.

However, she will not be alone.

In a recent update, PWI was able to confirm that Banks will be with former WWE Women's Tag Team Championship partner Naomi at the event after the pair's shocking walkout in May 2022.

According to PWI's sources close to the situation in NJPW, they "would not confirm they are bringing Naomi in and intimated she was coming of her own accord," which points to the possibility that she will be there to simply show support.

Should the pair make an appearance at the Tokyo Dome, it would finally put an end to all of the talks that pro wrestling fans have been having as to whether they would ever return to WWE or not.

Speculation would turn into excitement after Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp confirmed that "Mercedes Varnado is free to take wrestling bookings," with the use of Banks' real name being a hint that she really is done with WWE.

As is common knowledge among pro wrestling fans, WWE rarely ever works with other companies within the industry since the company would still want to be seen as the top dogs.

WWE surprisingly bucked that trend in January 2022 during the Royal Rumble when the promotion was able to come to terms with then-Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James coming to the ring with the belt around her waist and her Impact Wrestling theme playing on the speakers.

It was a great moment for pro wrestling fans as the "forbidden door" had been opened, leaving hope that WWE would consider doing it more in the future.

In the case of Banks, and Naomi by extension, it remains to be seen whether her NJPW appearance will just be a one-off or lead to several more, even potentially working with AEW at its January 11 event as Saraya's mystery partner.

"Wherever she ends up, I'm gonna be happy for her, and anyone that gets her is gonna be very, very lucky. I just selfishly hope that I get to wrestle her one day," Saraya later added.