The Naomi and Sasha Banks Walkout - A Brief Overview
The WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Left in the Middle of Last Night's RAW. What's Next?
Things sure do escalate quickly in the WWE, huh?
On RAW, a six pack challenge was advertised as the main event of the show. The winner of the bout would receive a RAW Women’s Championship opportunity against Bianca Belair at the Hell in a Cell premium live event in June. The six women advertised to take part in the match included Becky Lynch, Nikki A.S.H, Doudrop, Asuka, and the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, Sasha Banks and Naomi.
On paper, this is a star-studded match worthy of main eventing WWE’s flagship show. Five of the women in this match have had the honor of being crowned RAW Women’s Champion before, and each would like to have had the chance of winning the title again. WWE has put a lot into Doudrop as well over the past year, so it really was anyone’s match to win.
However, this was not the match we got at the end of RAW. Instead, Asuka defeated Lynch for the right to challenge Belair at Hell in a Cell. Why is that? The WWE Tag Team Champions decided to leave the show.
The reason that Naomi and Sasha Banks decided to depart the Norfolk Scope before the conclusion of RAW is still up in the air, and multiple stories were reported as to why the pair left, but each side of the story shared similar details.
First, Sasha Banks was the one who was more upset than Naomi was. She believed that the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships deserve better on WWE television, and she’s not wrong. The belts have only been defended on WWE premium live events twice over the past fifteen months, at the past two Wrestlemanias.
Also, it was widely reported that Sasha went up to Vince McMahon himself in regards to the finish of the match. Originally, it was rumored that Naomi was supposed to win the match, pinning her tag team partner, and starting the split of the duo. However, as more details were revealed, claims were disputed. Some sources believed that while Naomi was the intended winner, she would pin Nikki A.S.H for the win, going on to face Belair at Hell in a Cell. Banks, meanwhile, was set for a high-profile match of her own against Smackdown Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey. At this point, WWE decided to put out the statement below in regards to the incident.
By Tuesday afternoon, the full story began to come out. According to PWInsider, it was a mix of both accounts. Naomi was going to pin Banks to win the match, and The Boss would have congratulated her tag team partner on the big victory. The pair were upset over the booking of the championships, and another idea was pitched. This time, Banks and Naomi were going to lose a match to set up their next challengers, with the aforementioned Nikki A.S.H and Doudrop rumored. Despite this, RAW producer and WWE Hall of Famer Molly Holly informed the duo that the planned match was still on. Enraged, Banks and Naomi entered Laurinaitis’ office, handing him the belts, and leaving the show. McMahon was quickly informed, and the Lynch-Asuka match was made instead, as “Big Time Becks” informed Adam Pearce and the audience of Banks and Naomi’s departure.
As of this writing, potential ramifications of the walkout are unknown, and it seems like Sasha is the one with more backstage heat than Naomi. Worth noting is that Banks unfollowed all WWE related accounts on social media, which I don’t think is helping matters. This is not the first time that Banks has been frustrated with her booking as Women’s Tag Team Champion. In 2019, after Wrestlemania 35, Banks took time off after she lost the belts with Bayley as her partner. She was frustrated that the pair lost after only one match with the championships, and instantly, the belts lost value, by no fault of Banks, Bayley, or the Iiconics.
Who knows what could be next for Naomi and Banks. There’s been no announcement whether or not the Women’s Tag Team Championships have been vacated or not, leaving the remnants of the division in a state of flux. Presumably, Banks’ match with Rousey is off for Hell in a Cell as well. On the positive side, Asuka vs Belair has the potential to be one of the best matches on the card, and my prediction for who walks away with the belt will come in a few weeks.
Whichever side you lean on, most WWE fans can agree that the Women’s Tag Team Championships deserve better. Banks and Naomi were given the championships in hopes of elevating them, but instead, they’re another source of controversy when it comes to two of the best female wrestlers on WWE’s roster. All we can hope for is that everything is resolved, and everyone gets what they want, as the women’s division gets even more chaotic.