WWE News: When Sasha Banks’ Rumored Heel Turn Will Be Executed
Over the course of the last six months, WWE officials have heavily considered four different options for the RAW Women’s Championship match at the upcoming WrestleMania. Sasha Banks and Charlotte feuded for the majority of 2016, so that was never an option for Orlando. However, the WWE did consider singles programs between Sasha and Bayley and Bayley and Charlotte. Later, a triple threat between Sasha, Bayley, and Charlotte was debated, as well as the fatal four way between those three and Nia Jax.
As a matter of fact, backstage reports surfaced two months ago saying that the WWE was moving forward with the fatal four way. However, there was some hesitation over the last few weeks as it appeared that Nia would be left out. Ultimately, the WWE is going with all four, and from last night’s events, Dana Brooke was never under consideration despite last week’s attack on Charlotte. There were brief rumors that indicated she would be inserted into the match, but after Monday’s squash, that is clearly not the case.
As noted, WWE officials considered a program strictly between Charlotte and Bayley for the RAW Women’s Championship at WrestleMania. However, it became apparent that Sasha Banks would not have a viable opponent for the event and they didn’t want to leave her off the show. When Bayley and Charlotte were at the forefront, the thought was to pair Sasha with Nia, but Nia wasn’t considered ready for that singles spotlight on the big stage, and that feud was moved up.
Sasha and Bayley were also considered for quite some time, but the same issues arose for Charlotte. There was quite a bit of talk surrounding an angle with The Queen and her protege, Dana Brooke, but Dana’s inconsistencies removed her from that idea. The other half of that was that WWE officials wanted Sasha and Bayley for a big match at SummerSlam.
By that time, there would be another WWE brand extension draft so the company could introduce fresh feuds into the division, and the odd woman out of the initial equation would still get a high profile bout. Bayley and The Boss still appear to be on the books for SummerSlam, but it might be the culmination of a long rivalry that is slated to ignite shortly.
According to a new report, the long-rumored Sasha Banks heel turn is set to take place either at WrestleMania or the night after on RAW. Whether this leads to a title change on either show remains to be seen, but Sasha’s turn has been discussed for months, and it’s going to happen on one of the WWE’s biggest showcases of the year. In recent years, the big angles have been saved for RAW while WrestleMania highlights the actual wrestling, so we’ll have to wait and see if that trend continues.
We have reported on multiple occasions about the WWE’s thought process as it pertained to the title changes at this year’s show on April 2. At one point, there were as many as eight championships that could have changed hands, but Vince McMahon and WWE officials instructed the writing team to reduce that number. It was decreased to five as of two weeks ago, and on Monday, we noted how there are still plans in place for three.
The WWE RAW Women’s Championship was among the original eight and five, but by virtue of Bayley’s defeat over Charlotte at WWE Fastlane, that may have been one that was scrapped. One original plan had Charlotte retaining the title over Bayley at the Royal Rumble and WWE Fastlane to keep her undefeated pay-per-view winning streak intact, only to lose at WrestleMania. Bayley’s win on the grand stage would have meant that much more and elevated her to another level.
However, the WWE diverted from that plan to focus on the impending rivalry between Bayley and Sasha Banks. That’ll be kick-started on either April 2 or 3 depending on anything else major WWE officials have in store for their ultimate thrill ride.
[Featured Image by WWE]
