Sasha Banks Almost Quits?

[Jack-Hammer]

A story I read about yesterday states that Sasha Banks tried to quit WWE after WrestleMania due to her unhappiness over dropping the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship to the IIconics. Reportedly, the decision to have the title change hands came about very late, so late that Banks and Bayley were only informed shortly before their match happened. Sasha was under the impression that she and Bayley were to have a long reign to help establish the championship as a serious element of the WWE and feels that the title is now going to be little more than a comedy prop since the IIconics are now champs. The report states that she actually did say she wanted to quit but was told to take a little time off to cool down and think about it before she reaches any sort of final decision.

I can see where Sasha is coming from. She and Bayley are alleged to be two of the strongest proponents for a women's tag championship and want to do their part in furthering the women's division in WWE. Taking the titles off them, two of the most over women on the roster, and putting it on who is essentially a comedy duo doesn't exactly send the message that the title is going to be used or treated well. If that's the case, then I don't see the point in it; sure, a few comedy runs happen to most championships sometimes but WWE's women's tag titles aren't even two months old yet.

At the same time, Sasha has a reputation for being something of a diva who pouts, complains and criticizes when she's not the center of attention. The fact that other women on the roster have gotten pushes to levels in which they're bigger stars that Sasha, such as Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Asuka and a few others doesn't sit well with her. Truth be told, Sasha's prominence in WWE has definitely slipped since her big feud with Charlotte back in 2016. Reportedly, Vince isn't a huge fan of her, he doesn't hate her or anything but doesn't believe she's at the level of talent that she herself believes; also, allegedly, he's voiced grave concerns regarding Sasha's sometime sloppiness and carelessness towards her own well being in the ring.

If Sasha does quit, there are options for her though maybe few who can ultimately give her what she wants: to be a central female figure and make a lot of money doing it. Impact has a solid women's division, but there's not all that much money to be had. Stardom also has a strong roster but, again, it's highly unlikely they'd be able to afford Sasha since they couldn't afford Tennille Dashwood and Sasha's a vastly bigger star than she is. ROH's women's division flat out sucks, in my opinion, as it's ultimately little more than has been wrestlers or wrestlers we don't know much about as ROH doesn't do much to tell us about most of them; it's basically little more than random matches, most of which aren't very good anyway, and I don't think ROH could afford Sasha. That leaves AEW, who doesn't have a whole lot of women I've heard of but they've definitely got the finances to give Sasha what she wants, plus Sasha is someone who could help build the women's division. So if this is true and Sasha is quitting or is considering quitting WWE, then AEW is probably her best shot of getting the exposure, money and accolades she wants. After all, she just turned 27 a few months ago so she definitely as a whole lot of years left.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

I don't see her actually leaving. There's been multiple reports of stars wanting to leave and being unhappy, but who has actually left except Ambrose? I don't like to admit it, but wrestling (like any other profession) is about the money, and WWE has a LOT more of it than everyone else.

I don't doubt she's frustrated with her booking. Her feud and partnership with Bayley was booked about as poorly as any other angle the last few years. But I doubt she's actually going to leave.

[OYDK]

There are also reports out saying that Sasha and Bayley laid on the floor of the locker room and the hotel lobby to protest losing the straps. If Sasha wants to quit, that's her decision. I don't get why so many fans have an issue with people that are unhappy deciding they don't want to be unhappy anymore. That being said, while wrestlers have a right to be frustrated with management and the way that they're used, especially nowadays, Sasha and Bayley strike me as being very entitled. They aren't owed anything and let's be honest, the fans didn't care about them as champions. Are they better than their current spots suggest? I would say yes, but sometimes them's the breaks. Not everyone can be on top all the time... unless you're named Charlotte Flair. In my opinion, there are wrestlers that can make demands because they have the status to do so. Austin, Hogan, Piper, HHH, etc. may have been difficult to work with backstage, but they brought in a ton of money for WWE. They had a right, or at the very least a legitimate case, to decide what they were and weren't willing to do.

Until you actually have an affect on the WWE's bottom line, either shut up and accept your paycheck, or leave. Everybody thinks they can make demands. It doesn't work that way.

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

I can see Bayley following Sasha into doing childish antics, just something I can picture. I don't know either of them personally.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

There are also reports out saying that Sasha and Bayley laid on the floor of the locker room and the hotel lobby to protest losing the straps.

I don't believe this report. Surely they're more professional than that.

[Y 2 Jake]

Protesting over losing titles they were allocated sounds very silly.

[Yaz]

Sasha likely won't walk. WWE helps pay for her brother's medical bills and employees her husband in the wardrobe department, so her quitting would really impact a lot of people.

[Jack-Hammer]

I don't believe this report. Surely they're more professional than that.

Yeah, I have a lot of trouble believing that themselves. Sounds like something you'd see a 5 year old do at Wal-Mart when they're told they're not getting a toy. If by some stretch it is true, then it only makes them look like a couple of entitled millennial wrestlers, and God knows there are more than enough of those running around the industry already as it is.

I agree with OYDK in that if you're someone who makes demands of WWE, then you'd better be someone who has had a definitively major impact on the company's bottom line. I get people being frustrated, I understand people not being happy with how they're booked or used sometimes but that's just how the mop flops sometimes. There are only so many truly prominent spots, the roster is crammed full to bursting with talent and they have a finite amount of TV time; even though it's above what any other wrestling promotion has, it's not remotely enough for a main roster of over 100 men and women.

[Spidey]

Seems weird to me that multiple people saw Banks and Bayley's loud Wrestlemania hotel hallway protest, and instead of getting anything concrete like footage, something we've grown very accustomed to here in the real world, they reported it to Ryan Satin. Just sounds like a massive leap in judgment.

Gonna have to let this one cool off with the other supposedly disgruntled WWE employers nothing has been done about.

I'm too skeptical to use this case as a platform against my generation yet.

[JHOLCOMB22]

If recent reports about salaries in WWE and equal pay in AEW are true, it wouldn't surprise me if that was also a contributing factor to her being upset. Even if she can't justify being paid Ronday Rousey money, (reportedly 1.5mil), she probably does feel she is on Charlottes level (reportedly 500k) seeing as they came in around the same time and were the bulk of the women main event at one time. And if reports are to be believed, she is making between 200-300k.
This doesn't even factor in the unhappiness with creative surrounding her on again off again "friendship" with Bayley, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were told that they would be the Womens Tag Team champs for a long while to establish the belts. I think these factors all contribute to an overall disdain for WWE and her situation. Even if she didn't go to the extremes that are being reported, I do believe she is unhappy and could see he ultimately leaving

[Sufferin' Succotash]

It always seems to be the NXT people that throw tantrums when things aren't going their way. They're treated like Gods down there, then when act shocked when they aren't treated as such on the main roster or get what they "deserve". Maybe they just aren't as good as they think they are.

[smarkmouth]

I can only assume this is a photo of Peyton and Billie lying on the floor in-between Sasha and Bayley during a continued locker room tantrum.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D4FFH6vWAAE5ncj.jpg

And WOW! Look at them turn their backs away from the main event. Sasha defiantly threatens us, the viewers of this photo, with the back of her hand.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D4DB2zaU8AAZ5w_.jpg

It gets WORSE! Bayley is so furious that she's taken Kofi Kingston hostage!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D4DB2zbUwAAy1o7.jpg

Is it possible that they were unhappy with the decision? Sure. Do reports of a tantrum sound and smell like s**t. Absolutely.

[Yaz]

She took Kofi hostage? I'll kill her!

And not with kindness, but a gun.

[Y 2 Jake]

I imagine WrestleMania week is quite gruelling. Maybe they were just having a lie down.

[#AbsoluteUnit]

Emotions run high around WrestleMania week. She'll be fine. I mean, someone has to job to the Mighty Alexa!

[Jack-Hammer]

The latest word from On High, aka Dave Meltzer, is that talks between Sasha and WWE have reached a "stalemate." Word from within WWE, again, according to Meltzer, is that Banks wants to sit out the rest of her contract. The report doesn't mention how much time Sasha has left on her contract but does mention that WWE, as per the contract itself, has the right to add time onto Sasha's contract for the amount of time she spends not working. So, if she has 6 months left on her contract, for instance, WWE can potentially keep her under contract for an additional 6 months. It's pretty much what they did with Neville back in 2017 when he just suddenly up and quit the company.

Meltzer claims that WWE does want Sasha to come back, but that Sasha herself wants things to be "different." Sasha is scheduled to be part of the MITB ppv next month but if she doesn't show up to Raw next week, she may be written out of the show.

If all this is legitimate and Sasha wants things to be "different", then "different", at least to me, translates into "gimme what I want and give it to me now." If she's unhappy and wants to leave, more power to her but she's not somebody that comes off as remotely sympathetic, at least not to me. Sasha's only 27 years old but she's a multi-time Women's Champion, first Women's Tag Team Champion, is constantly and prominently featured on WWE television, has feuded with top level female stars and is one of the truly legitimate faces of WWE's "Women's Revolution" or Evolution or whatever it's called. We've all read the stories of Sasha kinda sorta being a bitch to fans and being difficult to work with when she's not being used or handled the way she feels that she should be; the more of these alleged facts that keep coming out, the more it seems like Sasha comes off like a spoiled millennial who's idea of being used and treated rightly is for the company to do whatever she feels should be done with her with, to me, translates into basically having her as THE true center of WWE's female division. Oh, and I'm sure she's made a pretty decent chunk of change with WWE since landing on the main roster so...yeah. Again, if she's unhappy ant wants to leave, then it's probably for the best but when it comes to her being used badly then, to me, she has about as much credibility as CM Punk.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Again, if she's unhappy ant wants to leave, then it's probably for the best but when it comes to her being used badly then, to me, she has about as much credibility as CM Punk.

You couldn't have watched her feud and partnership with Bayley and say Sasha hasn't been used badly and has no reason to be unhappy.

[Jack-Hammer]

You couldn't have watched her feud and partnership with Bayley and say Sasha hasn't been used badly and has no reason to be unhappy.

Why? Just because everything didn't go the way she wanted it to? I can't think of one wrestler who, at some point, came out of every situation looking and smelling like a bouquet of roses. I agree that it's frustrating at times, no question, and that Vince's routine changes of heart can only add to that frustration. However, in the grand scheme of things, Sasha Banks is someone who doesn't strike me as anyone with really all that much to complain about it. For the vast majority of her WWE career, she's been a consistent player featured on TV, had big matches, won big matches, won lots of championships, made a lot of money and is one of the true faces of WWE's women's movement. So yeah, if she's unhappy then she should leave but when you look at the entirety of her career, I just don't see all that much to be unhappy about as there are plenty of women on the roster now and throughout company history that would love to have achieved the success she has.

[Spidey]

According to Meltzer nothing is certain but maybe something happened and now there is a stalemate.

Good to know.