The following is a collection of Fightful Select reports on the Sasha Banks & Naomi situations, following the initial reports. Some of the information will be redundant as it was clarified in later reports:
Those that we've heard from at the May 16 WWE Raw said WWE Tag Team Champion Sasha Banks wasn't satisfied with creative associated with her plans for the evening. As Fightful Select reported, Sasha was to be involved in a six pack challenge with Naomi, Asuka, Doudrop and Nikki ASH. During the Raw broadcast, it was announced, then changed to Asuka vs. Becky Lynch and said that "Sasha Banks and Naomi left the building." We're told that Sasha Banks had a meeting with Vince McMahon and voiced her displeasure about a situation, and wouldn't budge on her stance. Vince McMahon was also said to be unwilling to budge. It's worth noting that as of the time that the WWE Raw rundowns went out, there was no assigned producer or referee for the main event match. It was also highlighted in red, indicating a change could be happening. We're told that there were hastily produced segments to set up the change, but they were also reflected in the rundowns that were handed out before the show. By the time it was announced on WWE TV, word had made way outside the company. Several people backstage at the show confirmed to Fightful that the duo left. We'll continue to update this article with information as we get it. In an update, we've learned that Naomi was actually scheduled to win the match.
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WWE Statement: When Sasha Banks and Naomi arrived at the arena this afternoon, they were informed of their participation in the main event of tonight’s Monday Night Raw. During the broadcast, they walked into WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis’ office with their suitcases in hand, placed their tag team championship belts on his desk and walked out. They claimed they weren’t respected enough as tag team champions. And even though they had eight hours to rehearse and construct their match, they claimed they were uncomfortable in the ring with two of their opponents – even though they’d had matches with those individuals in the past with no consequence. Monday Night Raw is a scripted live TV show, whose characters are expected to perform the requirements of their contract. We regret we were unable to deliver, as advertised, tonight’s main event.
Those that we spoke to that worked on the match indicated that the match was to be constructed to not have Naomi interact with Sasha Banks or Doudrop coming in contact with Nikki ASH in the match itself.
The working plan with the match was for Naomi to pin Nikki ASH, not Naomi pinning Sasha Banks as speculated.
Those close to the situation said that Naomi and Sasha Banks didn't claim that they didn't want to work with Becky Lynch or Asuka, though that was implied in WWE's statement, and those were the two women referenced. Instead, we're told that Sasha Banks and Naomi were angling to work with Nikki ASH and Doudrop at the PPV. The talent themselves hadn't heard that Sasha and Naomi considered anyone "unsafe" until the statement was released. WWE talent also got the statement in their internal talent relations app.
In regards to the pitch, the Nikki & Doudrop vs. Sasha Banks & Naomi PPV match was turned down, and there was a pitch to have them instead interfere in the Naomi vs. Bianca Belair match on PPV, which was also turned down.
We're told that Sasha Banks and Naomi's issues largely were concerns about the direction of their tag team and the division as a whole.
Contrary to other reports, it was reiterated to us by numerous sources close to the situation that while Naomi was scheduled to win, she was not to pin Sasha Banks as the match was pitched to the talent involved. In fact, according to those close to the match, it was being planned so Naomi and Banks were not supposed to attack each other during the laid out match -- which was the same for another tag team in Doudrop and Nikki ASH. Naomi was set to win on Raw, then lose to Bianca Belair at Hell in a Cell.
Based on WWE's statement, it appeared that Naomi and Sasha Banks felt uncomfortable or unsafe working with two of the four women, which hadn't made it back to those talent themselves until the statement was issued. To the contrary, we were told that the issue was about the creative surrounding the tag team championships and those being de-emphasized in the following weeks, with no laid out follow up after Hell in a Cell. Sasha Banks and Naomi have been vocal about developing more stories within the tag team division.
Interestingly enough, we're told that heading out of the weekend, a singles match was actually originally scheduled, before it was changed to a six-pack challenge. There were several segments planned for the night's show to set it up. When Sasha Banks and Naomi left, Vince McMahon was made aware at Gorilla that happened, and a segment was set up for Becky Lynch and Adam Pearce to turn the match into a singles. The six-way was scheduled to go three segments, the longest of anything on WWE Raw.
We're told Vince McMahon decided to reference the incident and was feeding lines throughout the night, though we can't be sure which lines directly came from him. There wasn't any heat we heard on anyone delivering the lines, as it was widely considered a "just doing their job" type of thing from those we spoke to.
Petey Williams and Kenny Dykstra ended up being the producers for the Becky Lynch vs. Asuka match, though we can't confirm if he was scheduled for the six-pack challenge. There was actually no producer internally listed for the six-way heading into the show.. Though Molly Holly was listed in other reports as relaying information between the two sides, she was tasked with actually producing the Alexa Bliss vs. Sonya Deville match. To establish this-- there is zero confirmation that any of these producers specifically had conflict with Naomi or Sasha Banks, despite rumors online. There are many producers backstage in WWE. The situation was so hastily changing that there was no producer or referee internally listed on many of the revised run-sheets.
We have not been able to confirm reports that Sasha Banks was set to face Ronda Rousey, but will work on gaining more information on that.
To clarify, this isn't a work and is not a part of the WWE storyline. Those that we spoke to backstage do not expect Sasha Banks and Naomi to be released, but nothing is a certainty.
We're working on gaining some reactions from those backstage and around the wrestling world.
There are numerous staff and talent that we've heard from about the situation, ranging across the board. One talent indicated that they often see criticism of WWE's handling of champions, the tag team division, the number of women's tag teams, and the booking of women in general, but see even more criticism when talent stand up against it.
However, one consensus among those we've talked to is that leaving during a show you were scheduled for, before that segment is something that is likely to lead you to getting buried throughout said show. One longtime WWE talent was quick to point out that not even Steve Austin's walkout was done in that fashion, as he was gone well before the show in question. Another female talent indicated that they didn't see anything particularly egregious worth leaving the show over, but understands the creative frustration.
We've spoken to numerous talent in and out of WWE that have been supportive of Naomi and Sasha Banks' stance, and the duo in general.
There were also a ton of talent from outside WWE that reached out to us, with those that didn't watch Raw wondering if it was a work, to quickly realize it wasn't. One former WWE talent said that they didn't even understand the situation, but that it took balls to do what Sasha and Naomi did. A female wrestler in another company was surprised with the pay scale at what it is in WWE right now that the two would deem a creative situation worth walking out on. Other reactions we heard were mixed between "someone needed to do something like this to make a stand" and the echoed "can't walk out during a show you're scheduled for" sentiment.
However, there were a couple of talent that stated that comparisons to an acting role aren't quite the same, as you take a role knowing how big your part will be. With pro wrestling, it's largely dictated by the quality of booking, and said that Sasha Banks and Naomi were well within reason to not be happy about the direction things were going.
In regards to reports of Sasha Banks not being liked backstage, we have heard from several talent that things had seemed to have eased up in that regard in recent months. One talent said they were surprised that reports of that nature hadn't emerged prior, with another saying that she'd been far more outgoing since her return. One staff member who said that while they'd not had positive experiences with Banks in the past, they understood why she walked out specifically. They noted that once 8 PM rolled around, she wasn't going to be able to speak with Vince McMahon, and she knew she wasn't going to work the match, so there was no need to stick around.
One person close to the situation believed that the statement WWE put out during the show was a way to pit those talent against each other, but also believed that all of those involved would be quick to reach out to one another to clear up any misconceptions.
It's worth noting that this is a collection and aggregate of talent and staff we were able to hear back from and in no way reflects the entire locker room or every talent..
Fightful Select also revealed that Sasha Banks and Naomi were indefinitely suspended.
Sasha Banks and Naomi walked out of WWE Raw last week, and were indefinitely suspended by the company.
To clarify a rumor that emerged today, it was reiterated to us by numerous talent and staff that Sasha Banks and Naomi left during WWE Raw, at the start of the show. Many people we spoke to theorized that once the show started, they wouldn't discuss the issue further with Vince McMahon because he'd be busy.
As of 7:15 PM EST, the originally planned six-way match was still listed internally, but with no producer or ref listed. Becky Lynch backstage segments were listed, but none for any of the other participants were at that point.
Many of our readers have noted that Sasha Banks and Naomi have been removed from WWE Shop and their WWE Facebook accounts were removed. WWE controls official facebook accounts and they're generally created for the specific character for promotional reasons. Twitter accounts are created, owned and managed (usually) by the performer themselves, and WWE does not have control over them. In regards to Shop, we're told this was a part of the "indefinite suspension," and WWE reiterated to us it does not indicate a release of any sort.
In regards to Sasha Banks being upset regarding Ronda Rousey, we're told WWE had started angling towards bringing Rousey back as far as last November.
We're told that there hasn't been any indication there's an end in the horizon for this situation as of Monday, and neither woman were scheduled for WWE Raw. As evidenced by him winning the tag team titles on Friday, Jimmy Uso is not expected to be affected professionally by this. Other than that, we've not heard of any particular stance he's taken.
This article first appeared on our premium service, Fightful Select and was republished here on Fightful. If you complain about it being "old news," you have to buy Sean Ross Sapp flights for a year. Subscribe to get exclusive news every day, and a half-dozen weekly podcasts.
To directly support us and our continuing breaking news, interviews, and the like, subscribe to FightfulSelect.com. You'll get exclusive news sent to you directly before anyone else, and dozens of podcasts monthly including Alex Pawlowski's Sour Graps, Sean Ross Sapp's Q&A, Retro Reviews and more
