"Was she drugged?" – WWE veteran blasts Mercedes Mone's (fka Sasha Banks) embarrassing botch spot during NJPW debut 

Mercedes Mone, formerly known as Sasha Banks in WWE, has come under a lot of scrutiny over the past few days after it seemed she may have fumbled her NJPW debut. Now, a wrestling legend has weighed in on what they think.

The legend in question is none other than Jim Cornette, who was one of many watching New Japan Pro Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom 17 event on January 4th to see what the former WWE Superstar would do on her debut.

What she did was stake her claim to become the new face of women's wrestling in Japan. She attacked IWGP Women's Champion KAIRI before cutting a promo stating that she would win the title in the near future.

However, Mone's attack didn't go as smoothly as possible, and neither did her promo. Jim Cornette commented on the segment on the Jim Cornette Experience podcast, where he compared it to a basketball player breaking his leg during the first play of a game.

“I don’t know what the f**k happened, they just – they fell into a crumpled f**king heap, like a Salvation Army drop box. And then, Mercedes Mone gets the microphone and does – and you can’t call that a promo – she spoke words on the microphone. Was she drugged? Was she hypnotized? Was she having a medically induced coma suddenly come on? Was she shocked that she had just fumbled everything? Because that’s the equivalent of a g*d d**n basketball player coming out on a f**king court and the first play, grabs the ball, does a dunk and breaks his f**king leg.” [10:39-11:35]

The former WWE Superstar has since showcased online what her new finishing move was supposed to look like, seemingly confirming that the move was botched at Wrestle Kingdom 17.

Mercedes Mone will challenge for the IWGP Women's Championship on February 18th

Despite the fact that her debut didn't go as smoothly as she might have hoped, Mercedes Mone certainly got her message across to the IWGP Women's Champion.

Following Wrestle Kingdom 17, it was confirmed by NJPW that the former Sasha Banks will challenge KAIRI for the IWGP Women's Championship on February 18th at the Battle in the Valley event in San Jose, California.

The title match is the only bout confirmed for the event, and yet the event is close to selling out already. NJPW does not have another event until January 21st, meaning that for the time being, the match between Mercedes and KAIRI is the sole reason why people are buying tickets to the show.

Do you think Mercedes Mone will become the new IWGP Women's Champion? Let us know in the comments section down below!

Please credit the "Jim Cornette Experience" and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling when using quotes from this article.