Mercedes Mone

Banks previously wrestled on the independent circuit, most notably for Chaotic Wrestling, where she won the Chaotic Wrestling Women’s Championship. She signed with WWE in 2012 and was assigned to the NXT brand. She was promoted to WWE’s main roster in 2015. Her match against Bayley at NXT TakeOver: Respect in October 2015 was the first women’s match to ever headline a NXT TakeOver, the first iron woman match in WWE history, and the longest women’s match in WWE history at the time with a length of 30 minutes. Their match was voted by Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) as Match of the Year, with Banks also being voted as Woman of the Year.

Banks went on to hold the Raw Women’s Championship five times. In 2016, she and Charlotte Flair became the first women to headline a WWE pay-per-view event, the first women to compete in a Hell in a Cell match, and the first women to win the PWI award for Feud of the Year.

In 2019, she won the inaugural WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship with her former tag team partner, Bayley, at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. In 2020, she won the SmackDown Women’s Championship at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, thus becoming the third-ever WWE Women’s Grand Slam Champion and the fourth WWE Women’s Triple Crown Winner. That year, she was named Wrestler of the Year by Sports Illustrated. At WrestleMania 37, Banks and opponent Bianca Belair became the first Black women to jointly headline a WrestleMania. She was the third most tweeted about female athlete in 2021.

During the May 16, 2022 episode of Raw, Banks and Naomi reportedly walked out after a meeting with Vince McMahon due to a creative dispute. WWE released an official statement, in which the company stated Banks and Naomi “walked into WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis’ office with their suitcases in hand, placed their tag team championship belts on his desk and walked out”. The two were originally booked for the show’s main event, which had to be reworked. On the following episode of SmackDown, it was announced that Banks and Naomi had been suspended indefinitely, therefore the titles were vacated.

In 2023, she began working for New Japan Pro Wrestling and won the IWGP Women’s Championship by defeating Kairi in February.

Notable Matches: vs Charlotte vs Becky Lynch vs Bayley at NXT TakeOver Rival 2015, vs. Bayley at NXT TakeOver: Respect 2015, 1st Women’s Tag Team Elimination Chamber

Notable Feuds: vs. Bayley, vs. Charlotte

Other Notable Achievements: Chaotic Wrestling Women’s Championship, RWC No Limitz Championship