Mercedes Mone, best known to WWE fans as Sasha Banks, is planning to move to Japan full-time.

Mone made her debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling at Wrestle Kingdom 14 back on January 4, 2023. Since then, she captured the IWGP Women's World Championship from KAIRI at NJPW Battle in the Valley (2/18) and defended the gold at Sakura Genesis (4/8) in a three-way match against AZM and Hazuki.

Her next title defense takes place this weekend at Stardom's All Star Grand Queendom PPV, when she battles Mayu Iwatani.

Based on her posts on social media, Mone appears to be having the time of her life over in Japan. There have been reports that she's negotiating to wrestle more matches in Japan. On Tuesday, Mone announced on her Instagram stories that she's "definitely moving full time to Japan."


Mone recently caught some flak on Twitter by referring to herself as a female version of The Rock.

It remains to be seen how long she'll stay in Japan, but this move is a sign that she's committed to wrestling over there for the foreseeable future.

She had a rocky departure from WWE last year, but it's entirely possible that we'll see her back there one day in the future. Mone's close personal friend, Bayley, recently said that she'll "never give up hope" that Sasha Banks will be back in WWE one day.