Photos have emerged of wrestler and actor Sasha Banks, also known by her real name Mercedes Varnado, waving the green flag as the honorary starter at Sunday’s Daytona 500 race. Varnado shared a series of photos on social media showing her trackside at the race, as well as a snapshot of her waving the green starter flag.
Fans also shared clips of her in action, setting off a dramatic race that saw a fiery collision and a 16-car pileup, as reported in Popculture.
Anything you touch, it’s always epic. You were the highlight. Your presence was felt. This is why you are the grand BO$$💙💙✨✨💜💜✨✨💙💙 pic.twitter.com/WtetT39jBB
— 𝙎𝙏𝘼𝙍 𝙒𝘼𝙍𝙎 𝙆𝙊𝙎𝙆𝘼 𝙍𝙀𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙎 (@4thPrometheus) February 14, 2021
The WWE pro wrestler and six-time world champion has branched out in the last year, making her acting debut as a new Mandalorian character named Koska Reeves in season 2 of The Mandalorian. After the debut role, she changed her social media names to Mercedes Varnado, branching out from her WWE ring name.
After her appearance in two episodes of The Mandalorian, some have pegged Varnado as having the potential to be the next breakout WWE star, following in the footsteps of Dwayne Johnson and Dave Bautista.
While the next season of The Mandalorian is still some ways off, with The Book Of Boba Fett due to release first, it’s likely Varnado’s Koska Reeves will be a recurring character.
