The Relationship Between Snoop Dogg & Sasha Banks, Explained
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- Sasha Banks has continued to use her fame to achieve her dreams in her professional wrestling career. No longer just known as Snoop Dogg's cousin, Sasha is one of the most marketable names in wrestling, even after walking out on WWE. She just made her debut for New Japan Professional Wrestling and helped sell out their NJPW Battle in the Valley show. While she wasn't in the actual main event, most name her as the reason the show sold so many tickets as the main event wasn't even revealed until after tickets for the show exploded. Now known as Mercedes Mone, Snoop Dogg's cousin has become bigger than ever before.
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"The Boss" Sasha Banks being related to Snoop Dogg is a noteworthy part of her journey that has been referenced in WWE many times. The dream of Sasha to become a pro wrestler saw her cousin and mega-star Snoop Dogg getting involved to help harness that passion. Few wrestlers are related to celebrities, but even fewer have ties to anyone as beloved or popular as Snoop in pop culture.
The relationship between Banks and Snoop has crossed over from family bonds to becoming part of the wrestling world. Snoop has always had a good connection with the wrestling scene, but it reached new levels thanks to his younger cousin becoming a huge star in the business. Sasha and Snoop’s relationship is a noteworthy tale in how it related to pro wrestling.
UPDATE: 2023/02/25 09:00 EST BY SHAWN S. LEALOS
Sasha Banks has continued to use her fame to achieve her dreams in her professional wrestling career. No longer just known as Snoop Dogg's cousin, Sasha is one of the most marketable names in wrestling, even after walking out on WWE. She just made her debut for New Japan Professional Wrestling and helped sell out their NJPW Battle in the Valley show. While she wasn't in the actual main event, most name her as the reason the show sold so many tickets as the main event wasn't even revealed until after tickets for the show exploded. Now known as Mercedes Mone, Snoop Dogg's cousin has become bigger than ever before.
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Snoop Dogg And Sasha Banks Are Cousins
The unique nature of cousins will see certain relatives of that ilk being closer than siblings, but others will spend their lives never knowing each other. Snoop Dogg and Sasha Banks have a relationship of the middle ground as they are close but didn’t grow up close together. The two knew each other through family events, but Banks grew up in Massachusetts while Snoop made his home in California, representing the West Coast. Banks’ father was the brother of one of Snoop’s parents, making them cousins with a noteworthy age gap. Snoop is 20 years older than Sasha.
The two only spent time together at family events or when Snoop was in town and offered concert tickets. However, Snoop Dogg clearly cared about Banks to keep them united against all odds. Sasha and her mother had a falling out with her father, and Banks acknowledged not having a relationship with him. The difficult scenario saw Sasha referencing her dad as not being a good parent or there for her family. Snoop didn’t cut off ties to that side of his family even though the person that connected their family tree branch was no longer in the picture.
Snoop Dogg And Sasha Banks Bonded Over A Shared Love Of Wrestling
The wrestling fandom of Sasha Banks became her biggest passion as a child growing up with difficult variables, like her father not being around and having a special needs brother that required her to take a bigger role in helping out at a young age. Banks credits wrestling for helping her get through difficult times and for helping her figure out her true dreams in life. There was no doubt Sasha wanted to be a top wrestler from her teenage years. Snoop Dogg actually helped cultivate this when he struck a deal to work with WWE heading into WrestleMania 24.
WWE wanted top names in pop culture to appear at their bigger events, and Snoop became part of the women’s tag match story on that card. The family connection saw the two noteworthy names speaking to each other in passing like most distant relatives until their shared love of wrestling was discovered. Banks begged her mom to attend WrestleMania 24 and Snoop Dogg made it happen, making Banks one of his guests for the night. A fun backstage photo showed a teenage Sasha taking a picture with John Cena long before she became his peer. Snoop made sure his younger cousin got to experience WWE.
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Snoop Dogg Became Part Of Sasha Banks' Wrestling Story
The Boss character made Sasha Banks a huge star for NXT. Banks initially came off dry as a generic face until this gimmick created magic. Snoop Dogg was the inspiration for Sasha’s character since she often saw his security guards or other personnel endearingly referring to him as “boss” whenever they interacted (via Steve Austin's Broken Skull Sessions). This was the smaller part of a bigger step for Banks to find her dream character in the wrestling world. Sasha became a top NXT star and was called up to the main roster with huge expectations. It was only fitting that Snoop was part of her first WrestleMania 32 entrance by rapping her to the ring.
The moment was special, seeing Banks’ emotion and the general pageantry of wrestling. WWE utilized the relationship between Snoop and Sasha a few more times to highlight both. Snoop Dogg was inducted into the 2016 Hall of Fame with John Cena giving the speech. This likely would not have happened without the two sides growing close again through his cousin. Snoop also wrote an exclusive verse to remix Banks’ entrance theme to success. The family bond between Sasha and Snoop is a wholesome story of a teen dream leading to a deeper connection through wrestling.
Sasha Banks Becomes Mercedes Mone
While WWE loved to share Sasha Banks' relationship with Snoop Dogg to help add flavor to her character of "The Boss," she decided to do things her own way when she walked out on WWE and made her own way in the world of wrestling. While Snoop Dogg showed up in AEW for an appearance, Sasha chose not to make that jump and instead went to Japan to sign on with NJPW. With that said, Snoop Dogg supports his cousin every step of the way, even sharing a social media pic of the two of them with the words "bloodline" in the caption - after her walkout.
Sasha gave up her "Boss" gimmick and changed her name to Mercedes Mone when she showed up in the Tokyo Dome during Wrestle Kingdom. She confronted Kairi and challenged her for the new IWGP women’s championship. That match happened at NJPW Battle at the Valley, and the former Sasha Banks defeated Kairi to win the gold and prove that with or without her cousin Snoop Dogg. she was still one of the best women wrestlers on the planet.
