Below are a couple of top WWE & AEW news stories of the day, featuring Sasha Banks and Shelton Benjamin.
• In 2020, Mercedes Mone fka Sasha Banks landed the most significant acting role of her career when she appeared in the second season of “Star Wars: The Mandalorian”.
Credited under her real name, Mercedes Varnado, she portrayed Koska Reeves, one of the Mandalorian warriors working alongside Bo-Katan Kryze. As a member of the Nite Owls, Koska was part of the female Mandalorian warriors led by Bo-Katan, who later joined the Mandalore resistance.
In an interview with Hot 97, Mone discussed her challenging transition into acting, revealing that getting onto “The Mandalorian” was a struggle due to WWE’s reluctance.
Mone shared, “Acting, I really didn’t see it coming because I didn’t know how those doors of opportunities were going to come, especially in WWE. I love WWE, but they tried so hard to not make me do ‘The Mandalorian’ and put me on house shows when I was supposed to film. It was pulling teeth just to get on that show, just to be a part of that show.”
She expressed her excitement about the new opportunities available to her at AEW, where she has more freedom to pursue acting roles. “With these new doors of opportunity here at AEW, I have all the time in the world to go do acting and more. Tony will pick me up on the private jet to take me to the shows and back to the other show to film. So it’s so beautiful, it’s so cool that I get these new doors, and I feel like it’s just the universe being like, ‘We want you to be this beautiful superstar that we see you as.'”
When asked which career path she would like to follow — whether it be The Rock, John Cena, or Batista — Mone replied, “I know it’s hard cuz everyone’s successful. They’re all kind of in their own league but doing the same thing, so I just want to be Mercedes Mone. Being the first woman to do it like the men are doing, like The Rock, John Cena, and Dave Bautista, I don’t look at just one of their careers; I would love all of them and more.”
• Shelton Benjamin has long been viewed by fans as a talent whose true potential wasn’t fully realized during his time in WWE. After his release from the company in 2023, Benjamin expressed his disgust over a past segment that he now acknowledges as racist.
Many old WWE segments have resurfaced online in recent years, often appearing outdated and problematic by today’s standards. One such segment re-emerged on Twitter, coinciding with the 15th anniversary of former WWE star Yoshi Tatsu’s debut on the ECW brand in 2009, where he faced off against Shelton Benjamin.
In response to the resurfaced segment, which featured Benjamin delivering a promo in a mocking Japanese accent, Benjamin took to Twitter to condemn it. He admitted that this was the one moment in his career he wished he could erase, describing his feelings of disgust toward the “racist sh*t”.
Here’s what Benjamin tweeted:
“If I could erase one thing in my career this is it. I’m completely and utterly disgusted by this racist sh*t. I’m glad the ending was my character getting kicked in the head and losing #RacismSucks.”
You can watch this segment below:
Yoshi Tatsu gets mocked by Shelton Benjamin in his debut pic.twitter.com/sUZr80Db7z
— WrestleFeed (@WrestleFeedApp) July 2, 2024
