Sasha Banks Mercedes Kaestner - Varnado ( January 26 , 1992 ) is an American professional wrestler . She is signed to WWE , performing on the Raw brand as Sasha Banks . She is a former three - time WWE Women ' s Champion and a former NXT Women ' s Champion . She is also known for her time on the Northeastern United States independent circuit . Professional wrestling career . Chaotic Wrestling ( 2010 – 2012 ) . Mercedes KV started her wrestling career in Chaotic Wrestling , where she was trained . She made her in ring debut on October 1 , 2010 in an intergender tag team match , where she teamed with Nikki Roxx in a losing effort to Alexxis and Danny E . Mercedes and Roxx quickly formed an alliance , teaming together regularly and accompanying each other to ringside . On October 22 , Mercedes lost her debut singles match to Danny E . , and lost a rematch to him on November 13 . On January 7 , 2011 , Mercedes got her first victory when she and Roxx defeated Alexxis and Mistress Belmont in a tag team match . On February 11 , Mercedes took part in a five - women gauntlet match to determinate the inaugural Chaotic Wrestling Women ' s Champion , but was unsuccessful . She continued competing in singles matches throughout the remainder of 2011 , and on December 2 , Mercedes defeated Alexxis in an " I Quit " match to win the Chaotic Wrestling Women ' s Championship for the first time . KV made her first successfully title defense against Barbie on January 6 . KV faced off against Luscious Latasha with Women ' s Championship on the line on January 27 , where KV successfully defended the title . KV successfully defended Women ' s Championship against Alexxis in a rematch . She successfully defended the Women ' s Championship twice against Nikki Roxx . On June 1 , Mercedes defeated Alexxis , Barbie and Mistress Belmont in a fatal four – way match to retain the championship . Following her win , Mercedes became the longest reigning Chaotic Wrestling Women ' s Champion in history by breaking Alexxis ' s previous record of 182 days . On June 24 , KV successfully defended the Women ' s Championship against Barbie . On July 20 , Mercedes KV defeated Aida Marie to successfully retain the Women ' s Championship . KV faced off against Kasey Ray with Women ' s Championship on the line on August 17 , where KV successfully defended the title . KV made her final appearance for Chaotic Wrestling on August 18 , where she lost to Ivy Fit in a non - title match . On August 18 , the Women ' s Championship was declared vacant after Mercedes signed a contract with WWE , ending her reign at 260 days . Other promotions ( 2010 – 2012 ) . On August 8 , 2010 , Mercedes made her debut in New England Championship Wrestling ( NECW ) , teaming with Ivy in a winning effort defeating the team of Ariel and Sammi Lane in a tag team match . She returned to the promotion on September 4 , 2011 , again teaming with Ivy defeating Mistress Belmont and Veda Scott . On September 23 , KV defeated Mistress Belmont in a singles match . KV once again returned to the promotion on July 14 , 2012 at the " Red White and Bruised " event , where she was defeated by Adrianna via countout . KV under the ring name Miss Mercedes , debuted for National Wrestling Alliance on November 19 , 2010 , where she faced Julian Starr in an losing effort . On the following two nights , Miss Mercedes defeated Sheik Ali and Nick Fahrenheit in singles matches . Miss Mercedes began to feud with The Great Cheyenne , losing to her on several occasions . On August 9 , Mercedes faced Arlene in a singles match , where Mercedes emerged victorious . WWE . NXT ( 2012 – present ) . In June 2012 , Kaestner - Varnado participated in a WWE tryout camp and on August 18 , it was announced that she had been signed to a contract . She was sent to NXT Wrestling , WWE ' s developmental territory , where she adopted the ring name Sasha Banks . She made her television debut on " WWE NXT " on December 12 , 2012 , losing to Paige . Banks ' first televised win on " NXT " was on the January 23 , 2013 episode over defeating Alicia Fox . Banks then entered a storyline where she would receive letters from a secret admirer , who was eventually revealed to be the villainous Audrey Marie , who returned and attacked Banks on the February 20 episode of " NXT " due to Marie ' s jealousy of Banks ' success ; Marie went on to defeat Banks in a match later that episode . On the March 7 episode of " NXT " , Banks teamed up with The Funkadactyls ( Cameron and Naomi ) to defeat Marie , Alicia Fox and Aksana in six - diva tag - team match . Banks ' feud with Marie ended on the April 3 episode of " NXT " , when Banks teamed with Paige to defeat Marie and Summer Rae . On the June 19 episode of " NXT " , Banks competed in the NXT Women ' s Championship Tournament to determine the inaugural champion but lost to Summer Rae in the first round . After weeks of influence by Summer Rae to make herself relevant , on the September 11 episode of " NXT " , Banks was defeated by NXT Women ' s Champion Paige . After the match , Paige would attempt to console Banks leading to Banks attacking Paige and turning heel in the process . She wrestled her first match as a villain on the September 25 episode of " NXT " , defeating Bayley with Rae in Banks ' corner . After the match , Banks would cut a promo with Rae and debut a new gimmick — " The Boss of NXT " . Banks and Rae , now known as the " “ BFFs ( Beautiful , Fierce Females ) ” " , faced Paige and Emma on the October 16 episode of " NXT " , where the BFFs emerged victorious when Rae pinned Paige . On the October 23 episode of " NXT " , Banks defeated Emma after capitalizing on a distraction provided by Rae . On the November 13 episode of " NXT " , The BFFs defeated Bayley and Charlotte in a tag team match when Charlotte attacked Bayley allowing Banks to pin Bayley . After the match , Charlotte officially turned heel and aligned herself with Banks and Rae . On the December 11 episode of " NXT " , Banks and Rae defeated Bayley and Natalya in a tag team match . In mid - January 2014 , as Rae had moved up to the main roster , the BFF ' s started a rivalry with Bayley , who had aligned herself with Natalya , and lost in both singles and tag team matches . On April 6 , Banks , along with Alexa Bliss and Charlotte , made an appearance at WrestleMania XXX as a part of Triple H ' s entrance for his match against Daniel Bryan . In May , Banks entered a tournament for the vacant NXT Women ' s Championship , defeating Bayley in the first round but losing to Natalya in the semi - finals . After a four - month absence from the show , Summer Rae returned on the June 6 episode of " NXT " , distracting Bayley and allowing Charlotte to get the victory . After the match , The BFFs would attempt to attack Bayley , only to be chased away by Emma and Paige . This led to a six - Divas tag team match on the June 12 episode of " NXT " , which The BFFs lost after Bayley pinned Charlotte . On the July 3 episode of " NXT " , Charlotte would get retribution over Bayley in a tag team match , where she and Banks defeated Bayley and Becky Lynch . After the match , Charlotte left Banks to get attacked by Bayley , with Banks officially disbanding the team in a backstage segment . On the August 14 episode of " NXT " , Banks lost to Bayley in a match to determine the number one contender to the NXT Women ' s Championship . At NXT Takeover : Fatal 4 - Way , Banks attacked Bayley after her title match with Charlotte , before Charlotte pulled Banks away and the two shared a staredown . Becky Lynch turned on Bayley and aligned herself with Banks on the October 23 episode of " NXT " , after Banks defeated Bayley . After defeating Alexa Bliss on November 13 , Banks challenged Charlotte to a match at NXT Takeover : R Evolution for the NXT Women ' s Championship , but she was defeated . Banks was defeated by Charlotte in a title rematch on the December 25 edition of " NXT . " Banks received another title opportunity on the January 21 , 2015 edition of NXT , but lost via DQ after Becky Lynch entered and attacked Charlotte . At " NXT Takeover : Rival " on February 11 , Banks defeated Charlotte , Lynch , and Bayley in a Fatal Four Way match to capture the NXT Women ' s Championship . Banks would continue to hold the title , up until NXT Takeover : Brooklyn where she lost to Bayley in a critically acclaimed match . Banks would unsuccessfully challenge Bayley for the title at Takeover : Respect in a 30 - minute Iron Man Match . Main Roster ( 2015 - present ) . Banks made her official debut on the July 13 , 2015 episode of " Raw " along with Charlotte and Becky Lynch , after Stephanie McMahon called for a " revolution " in the WWE Divas division . While Lynch and Charlotte allied with Paige , who was feuding with Team Bella ( Alicia Fox , Brie and Nikki Bella ) , Banks would ally with Naomi and Tamina , who later dubbed themselves as Team B . A . D . ( Beautiful and Dangerous ) , leading to a brawl between the three teams . In her pay – per – view debut , on July 19 , at Battleground , Banks competed in a triple – threat match against Charlotte and Brie Bella , which Charlotte won . Banks went on to defeat Paige twice , first by submission on the July 20 episode of " Raw " , in a tag team match where Banks teamed with Naomi for the first time , and again on the July 27 episode of " Raw " in a singles match . After defeating the WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella by submission in a non – title match on the August 17 episode of " Raw " , Banks participated in the first ever Divas number one contender ' s beat the clock challenge , in which she fought Paige to a time limit draw and Charlotte was named the number one contender . Following this , Banks began a short rivalry with Paige and defeated her twice on the September 7 and 14 episodes of " Raw " , and fought to a no – contest on the September 10 episode of " SmackDown " . Although she lost in a fatal four – way number one contender ' s match for Charlotte ' s Divas Championship in November , Banks started a winning streak , defeating the likes of Brie Bella Alicia Fox , and Becky Lynch . After a month off television , Banks returned at the Royal Rumble pay – per – view on January 24 , 2016 , attacking Charlotte and Becky Lynch after their championship match , showing her intentions to gain the Divas Championship . Prior to a match with Lynch on the February 1 episode of " Raw " , Banks claimed that she was " on her own " , signaling that she had moved on from Team B . A . D . , only to be attacked by Naomi and Tamina during the match , turning Banks into a fan favorite in the process . The feud between Banks and Naomi and Tamina would continue throughout February , and would lead to a tag team match at Fastlane on February 21 , where Banks allied with Lynch to defeat the two . Banks and Lynch went on to compete in two matches to determine the number one contender for Charlotte ' s WWE Divas Championship at WrestleMania 32 , with the first bout ending as a no contest , after a double pin occurred , and the second as well , after both Banks and Lynch were attacked by Charlotte . As a result , a triple threat match between Banks , Lynch and Charlotte for the Divas Championship was announced for WrestleMania . At the event , after it was announced during transmission that the Divas Championship would be withdrawn and it would be replaced with the new Women ' s Championship , with all three women competing for it in the triple threat match , in which she was unsuccessful in capturing the new title in her WrestleMania in - ring début . After some hiatus due to injury , Banks returned on the May 31 episode of " Main Event " and defeated Summer Rae then on the June 20th episode of " Raw " attacking Charlotte and Dana Brooke with the help of Paige , raising the Women ' s Championship hinting at a rematch for the championship since WrestleMania . This led to a tag team match the following week on the June 27 episode of " Raw " , where Banks and Paige scored the victory . Followed by multiple attacks and matches between Banks and Dana Brooke , it was announced that they would face off in a tag team match on July 24 at Battleground . At the event , Banks and her mystery partner , Bayley , defeated Charlotte and Brooke . On July 25 the episode of " Raw " , Banks defeated Charlotte to win the WWE Women ' s Championship for the first time . Banks lost the Women ' s Championship to Charlotte at Summerslam . After unsuccessfully dethroning Charlotte at Clash of Champions in a Triple Threat Match also involving Bayley , Banks regained the title from Charlotte in the main event of the October 3 edition of Raw . Banks challenged Charlotte to compete for the championship in the first ever women ' s Hell in a Cell match at the titular Hell in a Cell pay - per - view event on October 30 , which was then announced as the main event , making it the first time any women had received the last match of a pay - per - view card in WWE . Banks came out on the losing end , thus ending her reign at 27 days for the second time . On November 20 , Banks was part of Raw ' s women ' s team for Survivor Series , during which she was eliminated by Natalya . However , Banks ' team proceeded to win the match . On the November 28 episode of " Raw " , after invoking her rematch clause a week prior , Banks defeated Charlotte in a Falls Count Anywhere match to win the Raw Women ' s Championship for the record - tying third time . The next week it was announced that Banks will face Charlotte at in a 30 - minute Iron Man match for the Championship . At the event , Flair scored the victory by going 3 - 2 over Banks in overtime , ending their long feud . The next night on " Raw " , Banks called Flair out to congratulate her on her victory . Instead , out came Nia Jax , who went on to assault her . Other Media . Banks made her video game debut as a playable character in " WWE 2K17 " . Personal life . Kaestner - Varnado is a first cousin of rapper Snoop Dogg , who helped develop her in - ring persona . She is also a first cousin of music producer Daz Dillinger and singers Brandy Norwood and Ray J . She is a fan of K - pop music and the anime " Sailor Moon " . In December 2016 , she revealed that she provided vocals for her own entrance music . Kaestner - Varnado married Sarath Ton , better known as Kid Mikaze , a fellow professional wrestler who works for WWE as a costume designer , on August 4 , 2016 . Kaestner - Varnado cites Eddie Guerrero as her favorite wrestler , and she was in attendance at Guerrero ' s memorial episode of " Raw " on November 14 , 2005 , in Minneapolis . She also revealed that she was unaware that Guerrero had died before she arrived at the arena .