Consequences of Sasha Banks and Naomi leaving WWE Original continue over the weekend. With this style of drip, the general feeling remains that something much larger is floating below the surface and has been there for a while, and maybe at some point, if ever, we just getting to the real meat of the whole job. But there’s an interesting nugget that has given it a new class.
It came originally from Dave Meltzer and popped up in a few places since then, and it’s Banks that’s been annoying for a while. that her WrestleMania position has been removed backing Ronda Rousey getting a match against Charlotte Flair, with Banks moving on to a multi-team match against Naomi for the women’s card titles. Still on the card, but not in the key position that the championship game against Flair will be.
And any wrestling fan’s reaction to that news would be, “Damn, she’s going crazy.”
On the surface, it gives a whole new context to WWE’s chaotic and unnecessary statement on the night in question, especially the part where they state “Banks and Naomi are uncomfortable in the ring with two opponents they’ve worked with before.” That still doesn’t give WWE a chance for Banks and Naomi to get over the bus and do their best to try and alienate the rest of the roster against them. However, if we read between the lines a bit and try to synthesize more disputes, the picture becomes clearer.
Because it’s rumored that Banks will be positioned to face Rousey at Hell In A Cell – and lose – while the company ignores her card title running with Naomi for a couple of months and essentially puts belt to the tape. And working with Rousey The past has not gone well for the Banks. You can understand her anxiety on that level, about being used to make Rousey look better at the expense of her current run. She did it once, and the injury that followed nearly cost her a place at Mania entirely.
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But it almost certainly goes deeper than that. Banks have to see what we see. The argument for Rousey getting more and more senior positions than Banks is that she’s a bigger name. But is this really true? Among wrestling fans, Banks is far more beloved and just a much better employee and a bigger star in any way you can imagine comparing the two. As far as name recognition goes, sure, maybe Rousey has more crossover appeal, but is that even a thing in wrestling? And even if that’s the case, we’re still talking about someone at Banks who made his way into Hollywood. What exactly is the idea that people on the street might have heard of Rousey more than Banks taking WWE?
The argument made by WWE is to point to the reactions Rousey received upon returning to the Royal Rumble or at Mania, but it was something of a red herring. They put her there, so she’ll get those reactions regardless. It’s Rumble, fans are cheering every entrance every few minutes, and Rousey is just a name they know. You can beat Serena Williams in the same spot and almost certainly get a bigger reaction (I didn’t start this to build the vision board that gets Serena into the Rumble, but where do these go) . Fans in the arena will cheer in surprise because of what the atmosphere is like. Sure it might be a louder pop than most, mostly out of surprise, but that doesn’t really equate to love or adoration. It’s just a push.
Rousey’s place at Mania isn’t a pop concert or event any bigger than any Paul ran into with The Miz, and her performance certainly wasn’t as good. And that is probably where the Bank’s problems originate. Especially in this latest run, Rousey has gone through the motions, both in the ring and with her character work, the possible exception being her “I Quit” final fight. with Charlotte, and that’s just because fans (and I) really enjoy watching her get hit with a sword stick. Rousey hasn’t really had a great game since her debut, now four years ago, and has openly groaned at anyone who will listen when things don’t go exactly the way she should. think. Banks also not the firstif that’s part of the problem, think Rousey isn’t the safest worker because she didn’t bother to actually learn how to convert into a wrestler.
While Banks is no stranger to expressing displeasure about her bookings in the past, when she steps through the curtain, you can never accuse her of not throwing her all in. into whatever she is asked to do, no matter how stupid she is or how wasted her talents are. maybe. She hasn’t publicly talked about segments like Charlotte did, or simply watched matches and shows that didn’t reach her level of approval, as did Charlotte. She didn’t drive everyone crazy backstage. And when given her chance on the biggest stage, she just had her best match on the WrestleMania card last year. While Rousey’s match against Charlotte and Becky Lynch at Mania 2019 was certainly a bigger “event”, Banks’ match against Bianca Belair was without a doubt better. In every way necessary, Banks ran around Rousey. WWE also has a bad habit of building part-time talent at the expense of the people in it in the long run – watch Brock Lesnar beat Big E to win the WWE Championship in January and Goldberg pinned The Fiend in 2020 are two recent examples. If Banks doesn’t want to be used as a cannon fodder for Rousey, who could very well take her current deal and disappear again, good for her to speak out about it.
So from where Sasha sat, after doing all she could with whatever she was given, she was asked to essentially act as a motivator for a person in Rousey (and a terrible person there), someone injured her, who took her place just by being, and made her look better by pausing Banks’ story and returning to the ring. with her. But Rousey never came close to improving the quality of the game. Banks would utter every day if asked. Banks has worked tirelessly for years and years to earn a name like hers in the professional wrestling industry. Rousey simply walked in, and didn’t really do much more than walk in. It’s pretty easy to see where Banks has reached, “Damn.”
