Sasha Banks, the WWE character, is officially over, right? Like the woman who portrayed her, Mercedes Kaestner-Varnado, has since debuted in New Japan Pro Wrestling as Mercedes Moné and is now the second woman ever to win the IWGP Women’s Championship, having defeated fellow former WWE star KAIRI (Sane) for the honor.

Well, some members of the WWE Universe, most notably her long-term pal Bayley, still hold out hope that Mercedes will turn Moné into Banks and return to WWE, the promotion that made her an international superstar, to become the sort of main event superstar she believed herself to be when she and former tag team partner Naiomi, aka Trinity Fatu, walked out of the company last year. Speaking with Tony Khan’s least favorite journalist, Ariel Helwani, for BT Sport, Bayley noted that, despite her current NJPW success, she still feels that Moné belongs in WWE, as it’s her home.

“I’ll say yes, because I mean, this is her home,” Bayley said via Fightful. “This is her dream, and I love to see what she’s doing and what she’s going to be doing over the next few months. She’s going to literally take over the world, take the world by storm, but I know this is her home and where her heart is. By her heart, I mean me, so she needs to come back to me, you know? I need her, I need my travel partner, but I’m gonna say yes like I’ll never give up hope that she’ll come back.”

Alright, so that isn’t exactly the countdown to Y2J or the QR codes flashed on WWE TV to hint at the return of Bray Wyatt at Extreme Rules, but it does sound like Bayley would like to see her friend back by her side – or opposite her in the ring – at some point down the line. Fortunately, Moné hasn’t ruled out a return to WWE either, as she told Marc Raimondi in an interview for ESPN.

“I guess people like to say ‘never say never.’ You never know in life,” Moné said via Fightful. “I never knew life would take me here, but I always have to follow my heart so wherever my heart takes me is where I’m going to go.”

Very interesting. So, if Bayley wants Moné back in WWE and Moné hasn’t gone full-on Jon Moxley on his past, maybe there’s a world where Sasha Banks does return after all, especially if she’s promised the right kind of push and paid like her fellow Four Horsewomen. Fortunately, a strong indie run could help to make that happen, as Cody Rhodes will tell you.

Bayley is Mercedes Moné’s biggest fan in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Elsewhere in her interview with Helwani, Bayley was asked about making a surprise appearance at Wrestle Kingdom 17 to see Moné’s indie re-debut after more than a decade in WWE, and the leader of Damage CTRL let it be known that she went to great lengths to support her friend.

“I went there on my own. There were a few of us that flew out there just because she’s been there for all my big moments, you know, even as she hasn’t been a part of the company. I’ve made my return. I’ve had my big matches; she’s there for me. So, of course, I want to be there for her, and we’ve done so much together and WWE. She means so much to me and so much to the wrestling world. I have to be there for this moment,” said Bayley. “I literally flew out right after RAW, got to Japan two hours before the show started, and raced over there and met everybody there and sat in the crowd, kind of incognito. It was so magical to be there for her. I just knew how important it was to her, and she just loves this. Everybody knows how much she loves this and how much wrestling means to her, and how much WWE means to her, and she wouldn’t be there without WWE. So I think it meant a lot to her that I was able to go.”

Are Bayley and Moné actually friends, as opposed to work colleagues? Yes, there’s no way she flew to Japan and later made an appearance at NJPW’S Battle in the Valley as some sort of weird WWE agent trying to lure back the former Banks. Still, professional wrestling is largely about relationships, and the one between Bayley and Moné could ultimately lead to a return down the line.

@itsBayleyWWE has really been there for Mercedes since day one she was there when she won the NXT Championship and now she’s there when she won the New Japan Championship literally happened in Bayley’s own hometown that’s wild@itsBayleyWWE @MercedesVarnado #NJBITV pic.twitter.com/l7xbVgKmBF

— Jesse I flores (@JesseIflores1) February 19, 2023