Sasha Banks Q&A: 'My dream is to be the best in the WWE'

Mercedes Kaestner-Varnado wasn’t like other girls growing up. Unlike most 10-year-old girls, Mercedes knew exactly where she belonged at a young age. And that place would be inside of a squared circle as a professional wrestler. Despite growing up during an era where women’s wrestling was more about sexuality than wrestling ability, Kaestner-Varnado dedicated herself to the craft. Fast forward to a dozen years later and Kaestner-Varnado, now known as Sasha Banks, has seem her dream become a reality as one of the best performers on the WWE roster, male or female.

In the six years she’s been training, the 24-year-old has won the NXT Women’s Championship, put on matches that fans have raved about and, in a few days, will be wrestling in her first WrestleMania in a triple-threat match for the WWE Divas Championship against Charlotte and Becky Lynch. Before she walks down the ramp at AT&T Stadium, Yahoo Sports caught up with “The Boss” to discuss breaking down barriers, realizing her dream, the late Eddie Guerrero, and if her cousin, Snoop Dogg, will be in attendance for the biggest moment of her career at WrestleMania 32.

Have you had the opportunity to allow everything from the past year truly sink in?

To be honest, I haven’t. Every time I think about it I start to cry, especially with WrestleMania coming up. I have to psyche myself out because it just doesn’t feel real. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a very long time and I’m so excited. This year has been so insane. To know I have a WrestleMania match and I haven’t been on the main roster for a year yet is kind of mind blowing right now.

When I tell you that you are a pioneer for the new era of women’s wrestling, what does that mean to you?

It means everything to me. People dream to be in the WWE but my dream is to be the best in the WWE. They can have the money and fame. My dream is to become known as the greatest wrestler of all time.

Let’s go back to when you expressed interest in becoming a pro wrestler as a kid. How did your family respond to a girl wanting to be wrestler?

They didn’t believe me. My mom was like “What did I do as a mom for you to want to become a wrestler?” They just didn’t understand and it’s really hard to explain what made me love wrestling so much. There’s something about it that made me fall in love and ever since I laid my eyes on it I knew I wanted to be a professional wrestler in the WWE. But nobody believed I’d make it this far. I told everyone that I was going to be a pro wrestler ever since I was 10 years old and now I can show them that I did it.

How did you figure out what path to take to become a pro wrestler because there really wasn’t one at the time, especially for a woman looking to get into the business?

I remember looking up wrestling schools at the age of 10 and I emailed so many people. The responses were that I had to be 16 or 18 to train and that was a bummer. When I finally turned 18, I found a pro wrestling school in New England and I was the only girl there. I trained my butt off every single day just to show them I could hang with the boys. I only spent two years on the independent scene, which is a very short time for people. I remember when I went to FCW [Florida Championship Wrestling] and said to myself “Wow, I finally did it.” That was just the beginning. It was so hard for me to find a character, create a name and a persona. But, finally, “The Boss” came out because I wanted to show the world that I was the best. A year later I’m living out my dream and it’s insane.

Can we go back to the day you attended the Eddie Guerrero Memorial episode of “Raw” in 2005 and finding out that your favorite wrestler had passed away. How did it affect you and how did you handle that day?

That was probably one of the worst moments in my entire life. It was a WWE supershow on a Sunday night. I remember I had gone to church and a lady from the church wanted to take me shopping. I went to go pick out my outfit because I was so excited to go to this show. I remember I didn’t turn on the TV, Internet or radio on that day. My mother and I listened to the John Cena “You Can’t See Me” CD on the way to the event. I made my sign that said “I love Eddie Guerrero.” I remember I walked inside the building and so many people had signs that said “RIP Eddie” and “We’ll Miss You, Eddie.” It was scheduled to be Eddie versus Bautista versus Randy Orton. In my mind, I thought that maybe they switched it to Eddie Guerrero versus the Undertaker. I had seen so many “Rest In Peace” signs so that’s where my mind went. It didn’t hit me until I was standing in line waiting to go in – still smiling with my Eddie Guerrero sign – and a fan came up to me and said “You know that Eddie died, right?” I felt like a hammer hit my heart and the glass didn’t break. I was so confused because this was my favorite wrestler of all time and the reason I’m in wrestling today. I remember how bad it hurt me and it makes me cry to this day. I missed school for a week because it affected me so much. He’s the reason why I wanted to be the best. I want to be the female version of him. I felt like I really lost a family member. It was awful.

Do you prefer wrestling 15-minute quality matches in front of 300 people in NXT or 5-minute not so memorable matches in front of 15,000 people on RAW?

To be honest with you, the adjustment was hard. It was hard to leave NXT after the Brooklyn match with Bayley and the “Iron Woman” match for 30 minutes. At that moment I realized we were really changing women’s wrestling. But I also knew that my biggest dream was to be on Raw and SmackDown. We don’t have as much time now, but I didn’t start NXT with 30-minute matches, either. We had to work our way there. It’s almost like starting over again and eventually we will get that. With WrestleMania coming up, the opportunity to open so many doors for women after this match because we are here to put our name on the card and show the world that women’s wrestling is where its at. I think a lot of people will see this match and be like “Wow, give these girls more time.”

Your cousin is Snoop Dogg, who you had the opportunity to attend a WrestleMania with him in the past. Is there a chance that he will be at WrestleMania to see you perform next weekend?

I’m not telling you any secrets! You’ll have to see at WrestleMania.

But I’m sure you’ve talked to him since being placed on the card?

Of course! It’s been crazy. It went from me begging him to take me to a wrestling show to him calling me and saying “Dude, you’re on WrestleMania.” To me that is so insane. Snoop is one of the biggest legends in the music industry and I’m trying to be one of the biggest legends in the wrestling industry. It’s awesome. Definitely stay tuned to see what I’m going to do for my WrestleMania entrance. You never know who I might bring out.

How difficult will it be for you to hold back your emotions the night of WrestleMania because, clearly, you are realizing your dream in real time?

It’s really hard to think about it. I’m beyond nervous but beyond excited. I’m terrified but at the same time I know that there will be 100,000 people watching me in the arena alone. That is just so nerve-racking. I remember for NXT Brooklyn with 15,000, I was legit shaking but once I got out there, it all felt right. I’m hoping I have the same feeling for WrestleMania when I walk out on that stage and everything feels right. I’m ready. I have my puke bucket ready but I was born for this.