Banks, who was born in Fairfield, California by the name of Mercedes Kaestner-Varnado, bounced around a bit during her early wrestling career, which included stops at Chaotic Wrestling, New England Championship Wrestling, and the National Wrestling Alliance before she made the jump to NXT. It was here that she would go from being called Mercedes KV to the superstars WWE fans know as Sasha Banks.

From 2012 to 2015 she would go on to stake her claim on the developmental roster, which included such talents as Charlotte, Summer Rae, Becky Lynch, Paige, Natalya, and Bayley. After adopting her “Boss” persona, she finally tasted championship gold by winning the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver: Rival, and she would defend it against Charlotte, Alexa Bliss, Dana Brooke, and Emma numerous times.

Banks then left NXT for the main roster, and since her debut on Monday Night RAW she’s held the Women’s Universal Championship three different times, and took part in a near classic WrestleMania match alongside Becky Lynch and Charlotte. She now finds herself embroiled in a feud with the imposing Nia Jax, and the two will meet up on this week’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
WWE recently published a new video playlist of some of her best matches, and you can view those here.
Outside of the ring, Banks was recently married to Sarath Ton, who designs costumes for WWE, and she cites watching anime and playing video games as some of her favorite hobbies.
Happy Birthday Sasha Banks, and hope it’s a great one!