Since her debut on the man roster during the Women’s Revolution in the summer of 2015, Sasha Banks has been a major player in the division. Initially, the influx of women who came from NXT, along with some of the women already on the WWE main roster. Team Bella comprised of Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, and Alicia Fox; Team B.A.D. (Beautiful and Dangerous) comprised of Naomi, Sasha Banks, and Tamina Snuka; and Team PCB comprised of Paige, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch.
Unfortunately, while it was pleasing to many that women came to the main roster deservedly, the chaos of the revolution left the WWE Universe puzzled about how to evaluate what was going on. As the months progressed, Charlotte and Nikki Bella rose out of the set of females to engage in an intense feud, where Charlotte would become champion after just two months on the main roster.
Sasha Banks also began to emerge, as the fans started to cheer her despite being a heel. Banks would be a representative of the women’s division, along with Becky Lynch and Charlotte, to have a change of winning the returning Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 32 in Dallas, Texas. Although Charlotte ended up victorious, the rest of the year pitted Charlotte and Sasha in a feud that lasted the rest of the year, with multiple title swaps and the first ever women’s Hell in a Cell match in between.
Despite Sasha’s success, including the opportunity to once again become Women’s Champion at this year’s WrestleMania 33 in Orlando, Florida, there are people who wonder why she has not received the level of push that occurred in 2016.
In a recent episode of his podcast, Vince Russo’s The Brand , Russo expressed his feeling that Sasha is currently in the “WWE doghouse,” which can be described as a purgatory that talent stays in as a result of doing something that elicits a negative response from the WWE executives. During this time, the particular WWE talent or talents oftentimes see themselves on the losing end of matches, and the opportunities that they once held are put to a halt.
Russo explained his thoughts of Sasha’s status on the show.
“I don’t know what Sasha [Banks] did, who she pissed off, she’s in the doghouse. I’m telling you that right now, bro. Her stock has fallen so fast, and so hard. She definitely said something she shouldn’t have said, she definitely looked at someone the wrong way. Something happened with her, bro, because she is in the doghouse. I guarantee you.”
Russo added that WWE was putting so much time into Sasha, and now they seemingly have nothing for her. Russo believes that Sasha is “fourth down the totem pole” regarding relevance in the women’s division. He stated that the fact that she is the one who gets defeated is a sign that something is up. On Raw , Sasha was pinned by Alexa Bliss, who dropkicked Nia Jax following a Samoan Drop on Sasha.
At the Royal Rumble , Nia Jax destroyed Sasha in just a little over five minutes during the pre-show. Although Sasha would defeat Jax at the next pay-per-view, Fastlane , it did not do much to increase the stock of her place on the roster. As Russo believes, Sasha Banks is currently in a bad spot in the company and could potentially be living out her penalty on WWE television. While there have been rumors for months that she will turn heel and feud with Bayley, that looks to be scrapped at least for the time being, as both Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax has ascended past her in the run for the Raw Women’s Championship.
[Featured Image by WWE]
