WWE

The status of Sasha Banks remains a hot topic in the world of professional wrestling, but things are starting to become clearer for the former multi-time WWE Women's Champion.

Banks, who has been using her real name Mercedes Varnado, raised eyebrows when it was reported last week that she'd be making an appearance at New Japan Pro-Wrestling's marquee event, Wrestle Kingdom 17, at the Tokyo Dome on Jan. 4.

According to a new report from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful (h/t Sunil Joseph of Ringside News), Banks is free to take bookings starting on Jan. 1 and her departure from WWE was known for quite some time:

"It was confirmed to Fightful that Mercedes' WWE exit was negotiated 'months ago,' likely when Raj Giri of Wrestling Inc. reported as much. However, WWE has yet to officially confirm this, and she remains listed on the company's official website."

Giri reported in June that Banks was released from WWE following her walkout from an episode of Monday Night Raw alongside her tag team partner Naomi over creative differences. When longtime WWE chairman Vince McMahon retired in July, it had been speculated that Banks and Naomi would return to the company at some point, but that no longer appears to be the case.

It remains to be seen what the future has in store for Banks, but as one of the biggest stars in the wrestling business, she will surely have no shortage of options.

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Two-time WWE champion Drew McIntyre is out of action with an injury, but he doesn't intend on being out for too long.

During an appearance on WWE's The Bump on Wednesday (h/t Smita Singha Roy of Ringside News), McIntyre gave an update on his status:

McIntyre said he will be back "very very soon," and that he's "not going to miss" WrestleMania season.

WrestleMania 39 is not until April, but WrestleMania season is usually considered the time from the Royal Rumble in late January up until WrestleMania. That suggests The Scottish Warrior could potentially be back in time to compete in the men's Royal Rumble match.

While WWE has yet to announce the exact nature of McIntyre's injury, Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t WrestlingInc's Matthew Wilkinson) reported that the injury is indeed legitimate.

On Nov. 26, McIntyre competed in a WarGames match at Survivor Series WarGames, teaming with Kevin Owens and The Brawling Brutes in a losing effort against The Bloodline.

One night later, McIntyre was part of an eight-man tag team match at a live event that saw him, Owens, Butch and Ridge Holland defeat Bloodline members The Usos, Sami Zayn and Solo Sikoa.

McIntyre has not wrestled since then, and he was even removed from a scheduled match on SmackDown last week, as he and Sheamus were supposed to face The Usos in an undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship match.

Butch filled in for McIntyre as Sheamus' partner, and The Usos won the match to retain their titles.

McIntyre has been one of WWE's top babyfaces since 2020, which was when he won the men's Royal Rumble and went on to beat Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36.

He has not been champion for quite some time due to Roman Reigns' stranglehold on both world titles, but McIntyre often finds himself in the mix and near the top of the card, which underscores his importance.

McIntyre figures to have a significant role on the WrestleMania card, which is why it is paramount for WWE to get him back in the near future.

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WWE Superstar Kevin Owens has reportedly pitched having a match against retired Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels.

According to Fightful Select (h/t H Jenkins of Ringside News), Owens and Michaels had a discussion about it and Michaels told KO he would be "lying if he didn't think about doing another match." At the same time, Michaels reportedly told Owens he "doesn't think he should" wrestle again.

Owens drew one of the biggest stars in wrestling history out of retirement earlier this year when Hall of Famer "Stone Cold" Steve Austin faced him in the main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania 38.

Before that, Austin had not had a match in 19 years, as his retirement match came against The Rock at WrestleMania 19.

Owens and Austin had a highly entertaining brawl that ended with an Austin win, and the live crowd in Arlington, Texas, went crazy for The Texas Rattlesnake.

Michaels witnessing Owens vs. Austin reportedly got him thinking about the possibility of having another match, but it doesn't appear as though anything is imminent on that front.

The Heartbreak Kid had his retirement match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 26, and while he remained retired for quite some time, he did come out of retirement for a tag team match at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia in 2018.

Michaels teamed with Triple H against The Undertaker and Kane, but it was largely a disaster, as Kane's mask fell off at one point and Triple H suffered a torn pectoral muscle.

Per Fightful, Michaels has told people that the Crown Jewel match was the single biggest payday of his entire career.

Michaels is still very much around WWE and the product since he serves as the head of NXT, so it isn't outside the realm of possibility that he could wrestle again.

Owens would be an excellent opponent based on how well he handled Austin's return, but it is fair to wonder if the poor reception for his Crown Jewel match might prevent Michaels from making a second comeback.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

There is an apparent belief within WWE that the door is open for Mandy Rose to return at some point following her reported release from the company on Wednesday.

According to Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), there is a "possibility down the road" that Rose could be welcomed back to WWE, although she is done with the promotion for now.

Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp reported Wednesday that WWE released Rose due to content on her FanTime page believed to be "outside of the parameters" of her contract with the company.

Although Rose's content was behind a paywall, explicit photos and videos that she posted on FanTime had leaked on social media.

Rose's reported release came the day after she surprisingly dropped the NXT Women's Championship to 21-year-old Roxanne Perez on Tuesday night's episode of NXT.

Perez won the women's Iron Survivor Challenge at NXT Deadline last weekend to become No. 1 contender, but rather than waiting to have the match until the Vengeance Day premium live event in February, the title bout was held on regular television.

With the loss, Rose's 413-day title reign ended, meaning she has the third-longest NXT Women's Championship reign in history behind only Asuka and Shayna Baszler.

After getting sent back to NXT from the main roster in the summer of 2021, Rose re-invented herself and became the leader of a stable known as Toxic Attraction, alongside Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne.

Rose went on to become one of the faces of NXT and one of the most successful female wrestlers in the world in 2022, and she seemed poised to have a better run than ever before on the main roster in the near future.

Instead, Rose was reportedly jettisoned from the company, although a return seemingly isn't out of the question if the two sides can get on the same page again.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

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MVP Wants Omos to Become WWE Champion

MVP has been Omos' manager since April, and he is hopeful that big things are in The Nigerian Giant's future.

Appearing on Good Karma Wrestling (h/t Smita Singha Roy of Ringside News), MVP discussed his desire to see Omos at the top of the mountain in WWE:

"I hope to accomplish one thing at this point in my career and that is leading The Nigerian Giant to championship gold. He knows what it is to be a winner. He's been a winner his entire life … The WWE Championship, I would say it's an inevitability. We will get there, but it's not easy … You have some amazing talents, amazingly talented people.

"For example, Roman Reigns who is the undisputed champion right now, and we're trying to get there, but, intelligently, step by step. The Nigerian Giant Omos is smashing everyone in his path and the goal, my goal, is to see him hoist the premier championship in all of sports entertainment."

After Bobby Lashley defeated Omos at WrestleMania earlier this year, MVP left Lashley to align himself with the largest athlete in WWE.

While Omos has largely dominated lower-level competition since, he has struggled when met with top challengers such as Lashley and Braun Strowman.

There is no question that the former college basketball player possesses immense potential, but he has a lot of developing to do, and he likely isn't anywhere close to ready for the main event scene.

Reigns is operating at a different level than almost anyone else in the wrestling business as the undisputed WWE universal champion, and he has plenty of challengers lined up in the coming months.

Omos vs. Reigns could be a possibility much further down the line, but Omos must first prove he has the tools needed to move up the card and be a threat in the world title scene.

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Knight Discusses Working with Wyatt

LA Knight has been involved in a rivalry with Bray Wyatt for the past several weeks, and he provided some insight into what it is like to work with one of the most creative minds in wrestling.

Speaking to Ethan Absler of USA Insider, Knight described what the creative process has been like between him and Wyatt:

"Working with Wyatt is a unique challenge in the sense that you've got two diametrically opposed personalities. You have two very different approaches to what we do and in a strange way, it almost brings together a beautiful symphony so to speak, just because of the contrasting way we do things. At the same time, those contrasting pieces can mesh together into something that's pretty creatively satisfying and so far so good."

The feud between Knight and Wyatt began with them interrupting each other's interview segments, but things escalated when Knight slapped Wyatt across the face.

Since then, Knight has twice been found laid out backstage, and while Wyatt has insisted he wasn't responsible, Knight is convinced he was the one who attacked him.

Wyatt and Knight have yet to face each other in a match, but things seem to be trending in that direction, which would be a huge step forward in Knight's career.

Since returning to WWE at Extreme Rules in October, Wyatt has yet to compete in a match. If his first one is against Knight, it would speak to how much confidence WWE's decision-makers have in Knight's ability.

As Knight alluded to, he and Wyatt have very different characters and deliveries, but they are two of the best talkers WWE has to offer, and that could lead to a memorable and entertaining program.

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WWE's Anderson to Compete at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom

WWE Superstar Karl Anderson was officially booked for the Jan. 4 New Japan Pro-Wrestling Wrestle Kingdom 17 show on Wednesday following his match against Hikuleo.

Anderson and Luke Gallows returned to WWE in October after their contracts with Impact Wrestling expired, but it was a unique circumstance since Anderson was the reigning NEVER openweight champion.

While Anderson's November title defense against Hikuleo was called off due to WWE commitments, he was permitted to have the match at NJPW's World Tag/Super Junior Tag League finals this week.

Anderson won the match, but he was confronted by Tama Tonga afterward, and they proceeded to brawl.

According to Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News, the melee with Tonga led to the official announcement of a NEVER openweight title match between Anderson and Tonga at Wrestle Kingdom.

Anderson vs. Tonga is significant not only because it is a WWE wrestler against an NJPW wrestler on a New Japan show, but also because Anderson and Tonga are both former members of Bullet Club.

The previous WWE regime led by Vince McMahon likely wouldn't have allowed a contracted talent to work a New Japan event, but the current regime led by Triple H is seemingly more amenable to such ideas.

Anderson figures to drop the title to Tonga at Wrestle Kingdom so he can be free and clear for WWE, but it could prove to be a landmark match and moment in terms of WWE working with New Japan and other companies more openly in the future.

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Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

WWE has reportedly released Mandy Rose after she dropped the NXT Women's Championship to Roxanne Perez on Tuesday night's episode of NXT.

According to Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, WWE made the decision to release Rose after officials felt they were "put in a tough position" with some of the content on her FanTime page.

Rose posted some explicit photos and videos on the page, and WWE reportedly felt they were "outside of the parameters" of her contract.

The 32-year-old Rose had been in the midst of one of the most dominant title reigns in NXT history before she shockingly lost the NXT Women's Championship to Perez on Tuesday.

Rose's reign of 413 days was the third-longest in the history of the NXT Women's Championship, behind only Asuka's 522 days and Shayna Baszler's 416 days.

At NXT Deadline on Saturday, Perez outlasted four other women to win the first-ever Iron Survivor Challenge and earn a future shot at the NXT Women's Championship.

Most assumed the match between Perez and Rose would occur at Vengeance Day in February, but when Rose attacked Perez after her promo on Tuesday, Perez challenged her to put the title on the line later in the night.

Rose obliged, and the 21-year-old Perez beat her, adding the NXT Women's Championship to a resumé that already included the Ring of Honor Women's World Championship.

Fans were left in shock by Rose's sudden loss and wondered if it was meant to set the stage for her to get called back up to WWE's main roster. Instead, it was apparently a precursor to her departure from the company.

Rose first joined WWE in 2015 as a cast member on Tough Enough. At the time, she had no wrestling experience, as she had come from the world of fitness competitions.

She eventually landed a contract with WWE and spent time in NXT before getting called up to the main roster as part of Absolution with Paige and Sonya Deville. A neck injury forced Paige out of action shortly thereafter, but Rose continued to team with Deville for the next few years.

After Rose and Deville broke up and feuded with each other, Rose formed a tag team with Dana Brooke. When they struggled to find success, Rose was sent back to NXT last year.

That was seemingly the best possible move for her career, as she formed Toxic Attraction with Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne, and won the NXT Women's Championship after only a few months.

Rose improved significantly in the ring, on the mic and in terms of character work, and she seemed destined for big things on the main roster in the future.

While her run with WWE is apparently done for now, it isn't outside the realm of possibility that the door could be open for a Rose return in the future.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).