73-year-old legend says Sasha Banks always ignored him backstage in WWE (Exclusive)
Sasha Banks now goes by the name of Mercedes Moné. The former WWE RAW Women's Champion will compete for New Japan Pro Wrestling and Stardom. Talking about the nature of her WWE departure, 73-year-old wrestling legend Dutch Mantell detailed how the wrestling star always ignored him backstage.
On the latest episode of Smack Talk, Dutch Mantell was asked about Banks and her recent departure from WWE that was made official. There were rumors during the summer of 2022 that she was in talks with WWE, but The Boss ultimately chose to leave the company to fulfill her bucket list of wrestling in Japan.
Dutch Mantell said that during the two years he was there since Sasha Banks debuted in 2015, she didn't say "hello" to him once:
"I was there [WWE] for two years, guess how many times Sasha [Banks] said hello to me? Zero. Because I wasn't in her orbit. Even when I passed her, it's common to stop, especially on your first day to introduce yourself and say 'hello, pleased to meet you' or whatever. It's just a formality. But she never said hello when she saw me, I spent a lot of time in catering, remember. But she would never speak to me there, she just kind of ignored me and I did the same to her. There wasn't negativity to it, it was just something that never happened." (4:11-5:04)
Mantell believes in the old-school way and said that it was Sasha Banks who should have approached him and not the other way around:
"In the wrestling business, if you're newer to the business, and there's a veteran, the newer person needs to make an attempt to say hello. Not me going to her. She should have come to me by...it's been done for ages. You go into a new dressing room and you go around and meet everybody and offer a little bulls**t handshake, but you've met them. You've went out of your way to say hello and 'if I can help you, let me know' or whatever. But she never did and it wasn't a big thing but she never said hello to me." (5:18-6:05)
You can watch the full video below:
Sasha Banks is set to face a familiar opponent in Japan
OFFICIAL!
Battle in the Valley
February 18, San Jose Civic
IWGP Women's Championship
@KAIRI_official
vs
@MercedesVarnado
LIVE in English on @FiteTV
Tickets: ticketmaster.com/event/1C005D58…
#njpw #njbitv https://t.co/io7dbW22pa
Mercedes Moné FKA Sasha Banks made her debut at New Japan Pro Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom 17, confronting her old opponent KAIRI (Sane) after a successful defense of the recently-created IWGP Women's Championship.
The two women, who primarily squared off during WWE's Thunderdome Era will now be meeting a month later for The Battle In The Valley Pay-Per-View.
Do you want to see Mercedes Moné become the IWGP Women's Champion? Voice your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
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