Sasha Banks reportedly tried to quit WWE over WrestleMania 35 Weekend, according to one higher-up source and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
It was noted that Banks felt blindsided when she found out at the last minute that she and Bayley were dropping the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles at WrestleMania 35. That Fatal 4 Way saw The IIconics capture the titles by defeating Banks and Bayley, Nia Jax and Tamina Snuka, and Natalya and WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix.
Banks was reportedly under the impression that WWE would be giving them a chance to have a strong run with the titles, to bring credibility to the new belts and to establish them as serious titles. The decision was then made to go with The IIconics as champion, a team that some say will make the titles feel like gimmick comedy belts.
Regarding her WWE status, Banks has been given a few weeks to think things over before making a decision on a choice that WWE officials believe may have been made as a rash decision. Another source noted to The Observer that Banks has been given time to figure out if she wants to leave the company or stay, but that source couldn’t confirm the reason why, and said Banks probably would not have known about the WrestleMania 35 finish until late, and did believe that Banks and Bayley were going to be given a chance to make the titles mean something. It was also noted that it was logical for Banks and Bayley to assume they would have a run of defending the titles on WWE NXT, RAW and SmackDown, just because that storyline was started in the first place.
Another source just said Banks was clearly unhappy, which has been speculated on at various points over the past few years of Banks’ WWE career.
As we’ve noted, Banks’ strange post-WrestleMania 35 week began when WWE had Alexa Bliss call out Banks and Bayley for RAW on Monday night. Bayley would appear for a loss to Bliss, but Banks was nowhere to be soon. Banks did post a cryptic message during RAW that mentioned a line she had used before, about wanting to feel magic again. The cryptic post read like this:
“There is something about the way life happens today that makes it hard to look ahead. There are things that make it difficult to laugh; difficult to live the way you want. There are things that make it almost impossible to trust where you are, or to believe in where you want to be. You look around and life is happening way too fast. Sometimes it feels like the moments are gone. Everything happens all at once and right away. We’re marching towards a destiny we cannot understand, towards the kingdom of convenient. Then one day you look up and you can’t find the meaning. Your crisis of purpose and passion is acting up, but they tell you that that’s suppose to be normal. Well… I don’t want normal, I want magic; cause that’s the place that feels like home to me. 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.”
Banks then pulled out of a Tuesday appearance on The Wendy Williams Show, causing issues with the staff of the show because it was a late cancellation out of nowhere. Banks announced the cancellation on Twitter and cited personal reasons. Sasha added the “#IfYouOnlyKnew” hashtag to the cancellation post, indicating more to the story. She wrote, “Due to personal reasons, I had to pull out of my appearance today on @WendyWilliams . Sorry to everyone who was looking forward to it. Hopefully the opportunity will be there again later. #IfYouOnlyKnew”
Wendy noted on Wednesday’s episode that Banks had a family emergency, which is why she canceled her appearance on the show. Williams wished the best to Banks and her family, indicating they had smoothed over any issues they had with her from the late cancellation. It was also revealed that Banks’ people contacted the show just after midnight the night before filming to cancel. Banks has not commented on the family emergency, but it was revealed that she is currently on a post-WrestleMania vacation to the Dominican Republic with Kalisto and their significant others. Social media posts indicated that they flew out the day that Banks was scheduled for the TV appearance.
Due to personal reasons, I had to pull out of my appearance today on @WendyWilliams . Sorry to everyone who was looking forward to it. Hopefully the opportunity will be there again later. #IfYouOnlyKnew
— Mercedes Moné Varnado (@MercedesVarnado) April 9, 2019
— Mercedes Moné Varnado (@MercedesVarnado) April 9, 2019
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