After months of rumors linking her with a return back to the company, Kairi Sane appeared on the Nov. 4 Crown Jewel show to help Iyo Sky retain her WWE Women’s Championship against Bianca Belair.
A potential feud with the EST awaits Sane, but it is even more interesting to consider who could be joining her next. Because there is a rumor from Kermit on Reddit that two more wrestlers will be joining Sane in WWE as “friends”, implying a new faction with the former NXT Women’s Champion as its leader. Furthermore, the rumor warns us that we’ll never see one of those friends coming.
If that means WWE is signing more wrestlers to work with Kairi Sane and Iyo Sky in a faction, let’s take a look at five wrestlers who could fit that profile, including those falling under the “you’ll never see it coming” warning.
Giulia
Artist of Stardom Champion Giulia is one of the most talented professional wrestlers on the planet. She is the current Strong Women’s Champion in NJPW and one of the most decorated Stardom wrestlers of the last three years. Well-known for her athleticism in the ring and strong character work outside of it, Giulia has the skills to become the latest former Stardom standout to make it big in WWE.
Triple H is now in charge of creative after Ari Emanuel had no choice but to admit the Vince McMahon disaster, and as Sky and Sane can attest in both NXT and on the main roster, he has done a much better job of booking former Stardom talents.
Giulia would definitely be a surprise splash for WWE. While this would imply she’d go straight to the main roster and WWE generally like to have outside talent in NXT first, the reality is that NXT is such a different brand and a wrestler of Giulia’s caliber can easily do well on the main roster if booked properly.
Masha Slamovich
Probably a better fit for NXT, Masha Slamovich is one of the best wrestlers outside of WWE and has made quite the name for herself since initially emerging on the radar of wrestling fans in 2018. Slamovich is a prodigy of pro wrestling. The 25-year-old is a current Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champion and someone clearly ticketed for big things in TNA over the next several years, provided she isn’t snapped up by someone else sooner.
WWE would do well to bring in someone with Slamovich’s athletic profile and future upside. She fits the kind of wrestler WWE likes to sign – highly talented and not quite broken out as a big name in the mainstream yet.
Mayu Iwatani
For yet another wrestler who would make a huge splash as a WWE signing in a faction, Mayu Iwatani is one of the biggest living legends in the business. If you love pro wrestling, you surely know and respect Iwatani and her technical skill-set. She has been operating at the absolute highest level for years, and when Kairi Sane and Iyo Sky were in Stardom, she, Sane, and Sky were widely viewed as the two best pure in-ring competitors on the planet. They were THE trio in pro wrestling at the top of a company.
Iwatani is still going strong in Stardom and NJPW as the current IWGP Women’s Champion and the ace of the division. She is a wrestling workhorse like nobody else, and it truly feels like she is at the peak of her powers in 2023 with all of her tools in the ring and her experience. Iwatani has the quality to seamlessly move to the main roster and give WWE fans a taste of something different in the ring with how smoothly she works. She could help usher in a new era of in-ring product in WWE.
Serena Deeb
Another wrestler widely acclaimed for her technical work, it is baffling that Serena Deeb was never valued highly by WWE as an in-ring talent. But in her era, WWE had even more issues with sexism and valuing women properly for their work in the ring. Serena did make her mark in WWE with as much of an influence as anyone on the roster because of her coaching work behind the scenes, but it was still bittersweet to see her “only” recognized as a trainer.
Although she’s had some bright moments in AEW as a talent, including a hard-hitting feud with Thunder Rosa, it also feels like Tony Khan and Co. haven’t done the most with Serena, especially when you look at how underrated she is as a talker and character.
Serena has been a part of a faction in WWE before, and now that she’s a seasoned veteran of the industry, you can only imagine what she’d be capable of as a serious star in a serious faction with major players like Sky and Sane alongside her.
Mercedes Moné
OK, it’s entirely unrealistic and maybe a little irresponsible to pick Mercedes Moné as a possible signing because of the way she left WWE, but if the company really has opened a new chapter with McMahon out of the creative picture, maybe Triple H and the parent company can come up with an arrangement that brings one of the biggest stars in pro wrestling back to WWE. It honestly feels like with Moné’s brand of in-ring storytelling and unmistakable charisma, WWE is still the best spot for her, provided they aren’t completely incompetent and racist. (Unfortunately, that seems to be too much to ask for this promotion, so the onus is on them to prove they have changed.)
I wouldn’t even entertain this if it weren’t for the teasing “you’ll never see it coming” tag. Moné and Sane had quite the history together feuding over the tag titles during the worst of the pandemic. These two can create magic in the ring as opponents, so imagine them together as factionmates…and then on a slow-burn to another rivalry.
It’s totally far-fetched, but it doesn’t feel impossible because of all the events that have taken place in the promotion over the last several months. The product feels a lot different, Vince is gone, and maybe that means things backstage are finally conducive to a return.
Kevin was an editor at Daily DDT, covering professional wrestling, and is now doing the same here at Let Them Wrestle.