Following the abrupt cancelation of her appearance on The Wendy Williams Show , Sasha Banks took to Twitter on Tuesday to explain her decision to pull out, citing “personal reasons” and adding the hashtag “IfYouOnlyKnew.” While Banks did not go into detail about these reasons, a new report suggests that the former four-time Monday Night Raw Women’s Champion tried to quit WWE during the past weekend, following a last-minute booking decision.
Citing the latest issue of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter , Wrestling Inc . wrote that Banks purportedly felt “blindsided” after learning over the weekend that she and Bayley would be losing the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 35 . The report added that Banks had expected to have a lengthy run with the newly-created titles so that she and Bayley would get additional “credibility” and prestige.
Instead of retaining the tag team titles at WrestleMania , Sasha Banks and Bayley instead lost the belts to The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce), who also defeated the pairings of Nia Jax and Tamina Snuka and Natalya and Beth Phoenix in a Fatal Four-Way championship match. As noted by Wrestling Inc ., some observers have been critical of WWE’s decision to give the Women’s Tag Team Championships to The IIconics, due to the potential of the titles becoming little more than “gimmick comedy belts” that fans can’t take seriously.
Following the title loss at WrestleMania 35 , Banks and Bayley were called out by Alexa Bliss on this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw , though it was only Bayley who showed up to lose a quick match against her former rival. While Banks did not appear on Raw , she posted a cryptic message on social media while the show was airing, saying that she wants to feel “magic” again.
“I don’t want normal, I want magic; cause that’s the place that feels like home to me,” read the latter part of the post, as quoted by Wrestling Inc .
“That’s the place where I remember what dreams look like, where meaning is effortless, and purpose is simple. That’s the place where love still matters. I want that feeling of coming home again. I want to feel like myself….. I want that magic.”
Sasha Banks Wants Out Of WWE, Company Hoping She’ll Ride It Out https://t.co/RCPfoQjxUa
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) April 11, 2019
While it isn’t clear whether this is related to her absence on Raw , Banks has reportedly been given a few weeks’ time to “think things over,” due to how WWE officials feel it’s a “rash decision” for her to quit the company, Wrestling Inc . added. The outlet further cited the Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s sources, including one who stressed that they weren’t sure of the exact reasons why Banks wanted to leave WWE, but added that the 27-year-old former champion likely wouldn’t have been aware of the company’s booking decision for the Women’s Tag Team Championship match “until late.”
Another unnamed source familiar with the situation was cited as saying that Banks was “clearly unhappy.” Per Wrestling Inc ., this is consistent with rumors over the years that have suggested that WWE’s “Legit Boss,” as she is often called, has issues with the company’s booking.
If Sasha Banks does indeed make good on her supposed plans to quit WWE, she won’t be the first former champion to do so this year. More than two months after WWE confirmed that Dean Ambrose would not be renewing his contract with the company once it expires in April, the former WWE Champion took part in a segment with his Shield stablemates Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns and, as Cageside Seats reported, officially said goodbye to his fans after last week’s Monday Night Raw went off the air.
