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AEW Talents Reportedly 'Excited' By Possibility Of Sasha Banks Joining Company

7K views 104 replies 62 participants last post by  SHIVV-EAUX-EMME-GEEE 
#1 ·
#23 ·
They don't need that drama to deal with
 
#18 · (Edited)
My wild theory is that AEW is building toward a civil war type of angle between the homegrown women vs. invading women.
  • Britt leads the home team with champion Jamie Hayter by her side. Calls up Serena Deeb. Fellow heel Jade Cargill agrees to form an alliance. Tweener Nyla plays along.
  • Saraya brings in Hollywood Sasha at the L.A. show, recruits other outsiders including Toni Storm and Ruby Soho.
  • Athena is persuaded to join Saraya as a tweener and presumed ROH Champion.
  • Sasha eventually brings in her own set of friends from Stardom and either a.) turns making it a 3-way battleground, or b.) AEW sticks with a massive stable vs. stable feud.
It sets up some really nice feuds and stories.
  • Sasha vs. anyone and everyone
  • Athena vs. Jade in a ROH Champion vs. TBS Champion match
  • Still allows for the Saraya vs. Jamie rumored matchup in the U.K.
  • Keeps Toni Storm in the upper card, gives Ruby Soho an opportunity to move back up
  • Homegrown faces like Hikaru Shida and Thunder Rosa will have to decide who to align with. It provides the opportunity for Thunder Rosa to turn.
 
#29 ·
AEW has a female viewer problem, it drags down their demo and total viewers. Some weeks they match or even beat RAW in younger males, but never younger females. Mercedes could be one of the few signings who help that, although it'd need her to be booked well. The women's division has seen some improved booking lately so it's not impossible, but who knows. An ex-WWE (Sasha, Saraya, Athena) vs. AEW (Britt, Jade, Hayter) type feud has some potential.

Dynamite M18-49 this week: 0.40 (only NBA did more)
Dynamite F18-49 this week: 0.18 (joint sixth on cable)

I'm not convinced she's joining AEW, but there seems to be more of a chance than there was a few months ago. She's a pro wrestling fan at heart and not a WWE pureblood/PC product. She worked for the NWA and other promotions before joining WWE, so the chance to work AEW and Stardom at the same time could appeal to her. The schedule is still a big pulling point for AEW as long as they don't run lots of house shows.
 
#47 ·
Sasha is pretty damn good. Her NXT dream match against Io Shirai was awesome. Even her match against Carmella a while back was really good. She's charismatic and is able to make other wrestlers and herself all look good in the ring.

My only critique is that her promos historically have felt stilted and overrated. However, it seemed quite improved during the tail end of her latest WWE run - presumably a by-product of her Hollywood work.

Sent from my Pixel 5a using Tapatalk
 
#43 ·
Sasha Banks would be the biggest name they could get at the minute. Her fan base is one that presumably doesn't watch AEW every week.

At the same token it's a risk vs reward move as its quite clear she has a very high opinion of herself and as we've seen with CM Punk that could case a big headache for Tony Khan further down the line.
 
#55 ·
Sasha Banks would be the biggest name they could get at the minute. Her fan base is one that presumably doesn't watch AEW every week.

At the same token it's a risk vs reward move as its quite clear she has a very high opinion of herself and as we've seen with CM Punk that could case a big headache for Tony Khan further down the line.
A lot of her fanbase watch Jade Cargill.
 
#53 ·
Or maybe she’ll show up at different promotions while pursuing more acting opportunities.
FTR, whom Sasha and Bayley are close with, recently mentioned doing something like that where they just pop into whatever promotion they feel like. It wouldn't shock me if Sasha takes that path and limits herself to pay-per-appearance deals with various promotions. Not only does this leave extreme flexibility with being able to continue pursuing non-wrestling work but she could be viewed as breaking the status quo.

Lost among this conversation is Naomi who, if I recall correctly, is still under WWE contract and was never released. IMO, Naomi would be a great eventual addition to The Bloodline giving her a character refresh where she can play off of her real-life marriage to Jimmy Uso as well as her real-life "chip on her shoulder" after walking out.
 
#57 ·
Saw this on Reddit a few hours ago courtesy of /u/victoriabattenberg . The money aspect is surprising, yet not, and it reinforces my earlier post about Sasha/Mercedes just bouncing around to various promotions willing to pay for every appearance rather than committing to a traditional contract. She has that draw and leverage to be a special attraction.



PPA or traditional contract aside, all of the pieces all fit together for Sasha/Mercedes to be the mystery partner.
  • Saraya's mystery partner angle was being hyped five weeks in advance. AEW rarely does such a thing for both the men and women aside from announcing the assumed Trios match #7 finale with The Elite & Death Triangle.
  • The next day (after the mystery partner segment), rumors about Sasha/Mercedes showing up at NJPW began to surface (which are now confirmed).
  • Given AEW and NJPW's collaboration over the past year, it wouldn't shock me if they both split the cost to fund Sasha/Mercedes' January appearances. It's very likely Sasha/Mercedes is calling the creative shots on who she wants to face and how she's handled, too.
  • Sasha/Mercedes has already crossed over into Hollywood (albeit small time C-level) but debuting her at the Los Angeles Dynamite would be a huge boon. Akin to CM Punk at last year's Rampage, it really can't be anybody else.
  • Others have floated the idea of the mystery partner being AJ Lee but I can't see that - not after the fallout with CM Punk. Another idea floated was it being Lita but Saraya & Lita doesn't really have the same excitement factor.
 
#21 ·
She was the first name that popped into my head when Brit told Paige to find a tag team partner.

Imo they should do Sasha vs Riho first, then build up to Sasha vs Brit if she even does sign w AEW

Sasha vs Brit
Sasha vs Jade &
Sasha vs Thunder Rosa would be money

Sasha vs Jaime & Sasha vs Toni would be good too'
 
#28 ·
I know there's a lot of talk about the AEW "Roster Bloat", but that does not mean that TK should never hire new people ...
And Mercedes is absolutely the hottest free agent going. Not only that, she's a great wrestler and cuts a decent promo.

Automatic pairing with Saraya, automatic feud ready to go with Tay Melo (given the Sammy involvement).

I'd very much like to see her getting amongst it in AEW. As far as "feeding" her to Jade, it's more likely that she'll be the one ending Jade's streak :D
 
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