This Sunday, Sasha Banks will team with Naomi to take on three other tag teams and vie for gold at WWE’s biggest event of the year, WrestleMania. The woman known as “The Boss” is no stranger to the “Grandest Stage of Them All,” and that may be part of the reason why the six-time WWE Women’s Champion sees bright lights outside of the world of the squared circle.
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Star Wars fans already know her by another name, as she portrays Koska Reeves on Disney+ hit The Mandalorian. In fact, Koska was written specifically for the wrestler by director Jon Favreau after discovering Banks on an episode of Hot Ones. Talking about the process in a behind the scenes feature for the show, Favreau said that he infused a persona with “a lot of flair” into the newest Star Wars hero, making sure that Sasha was portraying someone who could stand up to the big players in his corner of the ongoing space opera.
While talking to The Athletic, Banks made it clear that her Hollywood aspirations don’t stop at a cameo in a galaxy far, far away. “I want my face on the posters,” said the former WWE Champion. “I want people buying tickets to see Sasha Banks.” Despite that, wrestling is Sasha’s first love, and that isn’t likely to change anytime soon. “It’s so cool that my hard work since I was a kid is paying off. Women’s wrestling, something I wanted forever, it’s being taken seriously. I never want that to change. I want it to be something people look to and think it’s the greatest thing they’ve ever seen.”
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Still, Sasha has the confidence to finish things off with a hint of things to come. “I see The Rock as maybe the biggest global superstar, and John Cena is coming right behind him. It would be cool to see a woman step into that level… I think the stars are aligned for me.”
For now, Sasha will be continuing her competition on Friday Nights in the WWE as she pursues more inroads in TV and film. While it’s not confirmed that her Star Wars character will return in future episodes of The Mandalorian, it seems inevitable that Banks will cash in on her fame and propel herself to new heights in the near future.
