Sasha Banks and Bayley Should Headline WrestleMania 40

I still believe Bayley is destined to main event a WrestleMania. Perhaps even this WrestleMania.

If she does headline the first night of WrestleMania 40, she would have the perfect opponent: Sasha Banks.

Bayley should have the Royal Rumble all but secured, until Banks returns and crashes the party.

In order for that to happen, WWE will need to sign Banks, who is Mercedes Varnado. Shewould be a valuable addition to a roster that is loaded with stars yet still needs another person to quarterback the division. A rare talent that is constantly seeking to enhance the wrestlers around her, Banks would provide WWE with a polished superstar at the top of her game.

After wrestling in Japan, Varnado suffered an ankle injury in the spring. A master of turning negatives into positives, her time away from the ring has led to even greater speculation about her return And if she returns to WWE, there is no better opponent for her than Bayley.

Bayley is so smooth in the ring that her contributions are sometimes overlooked. Even after tearing her ACL in the summer of 2021, Bayley has evolved her style and regained her place as one of the best in the world.

Banks and Bayley share incredible chemistry, sparking an intensity and emotion in their matches unlike any other. They have had classics, most memorably at TakeOver: Brooklyn in 2015 and inside Hell in a Cell in 2020 (even more remarkable considering it took place without a crowd in the pandemic-era ThunderDome), and it would be fascinating to see what the two would deliver under the bright lights of WrestleMania.

In order for WrestleMania 40 to become one of the most revered shows of all-time, it is going to need Sasha Banks.

TNA returns tomorrow with the Hard to Kill pay-per-view. A match worth watching will be former world champion Josh Alexander against Hammerstone, a former MLW staple now seeking to swim in new waters.

Alexander put together a 335-day title run that ended this past March when he relinquinshed the belt after suffering a triceps tear. Following four months on the injured list, he has yet to feel like himself in the ring since his return–an element he looks to change in 2024.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t tough,” said Alexander. “When I first came back, it was adrenaline and excitement. A couple matches in, I felt like I was back. The mental hurdle came back into play before Bound for Glory.”

A title bout at Bound for Glory in October against Alex Shelley–who has thrived as world champ–turned into a grueling mental (and painful) battle for Alexander after he hurt his shoulder early in the match.

“There was still a part of me worried about getting hurt again,” said Alexander, speaking of a self-fulfilling prophecy. “And I messed up my shoulder pretty early into that match at Bound for Glory.”

He worked through the shoulder injury, though admitted it compromised him in the second half of the match. Only a day later, he wrestled Will Ospreay. There was a high probability their match would not be cleared, but Alexander was cleared and made the most of the moment.

Alexander will be a key part of TNA as it regains its identity in 2024. As the company unveils new titles and a revamped look, it will receive a significant boost if Alexander regains his elite form.

“This is going to be a much different year for me,” said Alexander. “I’m looking forward to getting back to the Josh Alexander I was before, and I’m going to give people their money’s worth and put on a show.

Kazuchika Okada has defeated Will Ospreay in seven of their nine singles matches. By the end of the weekend, it feels like it will be eight out of ten.

In what is beginning to feel like the end of Okada’s run in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, he has a fitting farewell with longtime foe Ospreay, who he first wrestled in 2015. Their matches together are typically outstanding, and there is every reason to believe this was one will be spectacular.

Moving forward, will Okada join Ospreay in AEW? Or venture to WWE? Considering he plans to continue living in Japan, working for AEW makes far more sense.