Sasha Banks and Naomi walked out on last week’s Monday Night Raw after expressing their frustrations with their booking. WWE planned to have Sasha and Naomi challenge for the SmackDown and Raw Women’s Championships, but the pair wanted the focus to be on their reign as women’s tag champs.
For many fans, the behavior of Sasha Banks and Naomi was unprecedented. Some support them, and some side with WWE’s stance that they acted unprofessionally. Either way, the situation as it stands is a difficult one for everyone involved.
WWE has taken on the tactic of repeated on-screen burials of Sasha and Naomi. Michael Cole even announced that they were stripped of their titles and had been suspended indefinitely on the latest episode of SmackDown. On today’s Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said there was one superstar to whom this situation can be compared, and he was treated even more harshly at the time.
“They went on TV, they did it, and whatever reaction there is. I don’t know what the general crowd reaction is. I know that there’s obviously, in these situations, there’s going to be fans of the talent that will back the talent whatever the story is and there will be people who are fans of management who will back management or whatever.
But, each story is different and this story is, you know, people will compare it to… They’re trying to compare it to different other things that have happened and the only one that is close to comparable is Austin, and they buried Austin a lot worse.”
Steve Austin was eventually able to bury the hatchet and return to WWE. That possibility is still very real for both Sasha Banks and Naomi. Time will tell if either of them is able to mend fences and return to work.
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Transcription by Ringside News