Mercedes Moné

Mercedes Justine Kaestner Varnado (born January 26, 1992) is an American professional wrestler. As of January 2024, she is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where she performs under the ring name Mercedes Moné (muh-NAY) and is the current AEW Women's World Champion in her first reign. She also appears for AEW's partners Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), as well as promotions on the independent circuit. Varnado rose to prominence during her time in WWE from 2012 to 2022, where she performed under the ring name Sasha Banks.

Varnado began her wrestling career in 2010 on the independent circuit, most notably for Chaotic Wrestling. She signed with WWE in 2012 under the ring name Sasha Banks and was assigned to the developmental territory NXT, later winning the NXT Women's Championship. Her match against Bayley at NXT TakeOver: Respect in October 2015 was the first women's match to ever headline an NXT TakeOver and the first iron woman match in WWE history. Their match was named "Match of the Year" by Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI), with Varnado also being named "Woman of the Year".

In 2015, Varnado was promoted to WWE's main roster, where she won the WWE Raw Women's Championship five times. In 2016, she and Charlotte Flair became the first women to headline a WWE pay-per-view event, compete in a Hell in a Cell match, and win PWI's Feud of the Year. She won the inaugural WWE Women's Tag Team Championship with Bayley, and in 2020, won the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship, becoming a Grand Slam Champion and Triple Crown Champion. That year, Sports Illustrated named her "Wrestler of the Year". In the main event of WrestleMania 37 – Night 1, Varnado and opponent Bianca Belair became the first two African Americans to headline WrestleMania, WWE's flagship event.

After creative issues in 2022, Varnado left WWE, debuting as Mercedes Moné in NJPW/Stardom at Wrestle Kingdom 17, becoming a one-time IWGP Women's Champion, and signed with AEW in 2024. In her AEW in-ring debut, she won the AEW TBS Championship, her reign with which is the longest in the title's history. In 2025, she was named "Woman of the Year" by PWI for a second time, ranked No. 1 in the PWI Women's 250, and became the most simultaneously-decorated wrestler of all time, at one point holding 13 belts comprising 11 championships. In 2026, she won the AEW Women's World Championship, making her the only wrestler to become world champion across the major promotions of WWE, AEW, NJPW, and CMLL.

Outside of wrestling, she portrays the recurring character Koska Reeves in the second and third seasons of the Disney+ space western series The Mandalorian.