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Knackwurst
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|  #1 Posted on 19.9.17 0825.21
Reposted on: 19.9.24 0825.21 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/alfredkonuwa/2017/09/18/sasha-banks-vs-wwe-is-quietly-becoming-the-backstage-feud-of-the-year-in-2017/#494eb7206f2b
(File this in the FWIW category)
Sasha Banks Vs. WWE Is Quietly Becoming The Backstage Feud Of The Year In 2017
Sasha Banks is not a happy camper these days, and she's throwing plenty of shade at WWE just to be sure.
The three-time Raw Women's champion seems to have become jaded with not only the WWE lifestyle, but also Raw's chaotic week-to-week booking which has submarined her momentum, not to mention that of the entire women’s division.
Banks was recently asked whether she preferred NXT over Raw, and she was definitive of her preference of the developmental brand:
"NXT, because that's always home for me and I feel like that's— really where I made a name for myself," said Banks.
This is actually a pretty harmless response on its own merits, but it further plays into a growing narrative of apparent tension between Banks and WWE.
Banks—who was conspicuous by her absence at the Mae Young Classic finale as WWE slowly planted the seeds for a potential blockbuster feud involving Ronda Rousey—not only prefers NXT for sentimental reasons, she is clearly frustrated with Raw's lack of direction, telling Sam Roberts in a revealing interview:
"I think that's what's different about NXT too. We kind of always knew where we were going, so it helped me prepare and think of ahead of time, like, 'how can I make this better?'. But when I go to RAW, it's legit, like, 'I have no clue what I'm doing.' I don't even know what to prepare for. I'm just, like, handed something or told something. And I was like, 'okay, I have one hour to get ready. Oh, okay. Alright. Let's just do it!' So, honestly, I wish we had the opportunity to know what we're doing in the next three months. If we're going with a storyline, I would like to know, 'yeah, we're going with you and Alexa [Bliss] and this is where we want to take it and where we want to go' instead of just being, 'oh, maybe you'll have a tag match. Maybe you'll have a promo. Maybe you'll have this random match that doesn't make any sense or whatever. Who knows? Or maybe you'll just sit in catering. Who knows?"
Banks was once hailed as a revolutionary brought up from NXT to reinvent women's wrestling alongside the likes of Charlotte and Becky Lynch. Banks' young career has since been decorated with historic main events and championship wins. Banks' Raw main event against Charlotte last fall drew the second-largest audience since the start of football season with 3.13 million viewers.
Banks' efforts have helped launch the sub-genre of women's wrestling, which led to the popular Mae Young Classic, which dominated viewership on WWE Network following an experimental binge-watch rollout.
But despite racking up accolades and championship wins, Banks' ensuing failures to successfully defend the Raw Women’s Championship seem to stand out during her aforementioned interview with Roberts:
"I'll be honest about something. I'm a three-time RAW Women's Champion, right, which is awesome. Within a whole year, I'm a three-time Women's Champion, which, to me, is a lot. I am a three-time two-week holder of a championship, so that took away my confidence so much."
Then there’s the WWE Universe. Wrestling fans have never been celebrated for their discretion, and the rigors of WWE travel comes with its share of unruly fans obsessing over the day-to-day activities of their favorite stars.
The social media era has provided unprecedented access to public figures. Banks has just under four million followers on Twitter and Instagram, but unfortunately some of them are more content with following her in real life.
Said Banks:
"I grew up a wrestling fan, so I knew that I wanted to meet all my favorite wrestlers. But always in the back of my head I never thought in my life to be like, ‘Hey, they’re gonna fly in. Maybe I should wait at the airport for like 12 hours at a gate. Hey! They don’t want any sleep. Maybe I’ll go find their hotel they’re staying at and let me bother them.’
Like to me, that’s stalking. I don’t tweet out what hotel I’m at. I don’t tweet out what airline I’m flying. I do tweet you what arena I’ll be performing at, so I do expect fans at the arena, and I’m so happy to sign at the arena, that’s fine because I’m telling you where I’m going to be at. If I see you in public, that’s fine."
Banks recently updated her Twitter profile to remove any reference to WWE, instead opting to quote a bible verse. It’s likely much ado about nothing, but certainly an interesting development in an ongoing cold war between WWE and one of its brightest stars.
| Promote this thread! |             | lotjx
Scrapple
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| #2 Posted on 19.9.17 0850.39
Reposted on: 19.9.24 0850.40 | | And she is 100% correct. If they lose her due to Vince's stupidity and their fucking obsession over Total Divas with Nia "Botch" Jax and Alexa "I am over because of my cosplaying" Bliss then they are fucking stupid. I know people will say "Well, wait til Asuka gets here." Yeah...I don't think so. Nakamura even though is in the title scene seems to be floundering. Bobby was MIA from Smackdown this week. Charlotte is obviously helping Ric which good on her, but it doesn't seem like they had a plan for her and Becky anyway. This whole Rhonda thing is going to suck. The fans are going to make her a heel, because she got light up twice. I like Rhonda, but if they are going to try to make her face and win then man...RIP Women's Revolution. | Tenken347
Knackwurst
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| #3 Posted on 19.9.17 0909.44
Reposted on: 19.9.24 0909.45 | I'm not sure I'd read a whole lot into this relatively benign interview with Sam Roberts, WWE's favorite shill. That said, it's hard to argue with the idea that a show should know what it's doing before it tries to do it, especially considering how bad WWE always is at adjusting an idea mid-stream. If I could make a change to the company it really would be to give stuff a more long-term focus.
Originally posted by lotjx
Alexa "I am over because of my cosplaying" Bliss
Brother, if you think that's why Alexa's over, then you have genuinely not watched a single thing she's done over the last year or so. Alexa Bliss has blossomed into one of the best talents in the women's division, and is probably overall one of the best characters in WWE. | used2bcool
Merguez
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| #4 Posted on 19.9.17 1218.15
Reposted on: 19.9.24 1218.16 | Originally posted by Tenken347
Originally posted by lotjx
Alexa "I am over because of my cosplaying" Bliss
Brother, if you think that's why Alexa's over, then you have genuinely not watched a single thing she's done over the last year or so. Alexa Bliss has blossomed into one of the best talents in the women's division, and is probably overall one of the best characters in WWE.
Alexa is easily the best promo in the entire women's division and probably a top-5 promo on Raw. There's no other woman on the roster who comes even remotely close to what Alexa does with a microphone. Alexa has an ability to communicate with the audience that both Sasha and Bayley lack, which in my opinion is the simple reason for her rise. | SKLOKAZOID
Bierwurst
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| #5 Posted on 19.9.17 1309.21
Reposted on: 19.9.24 1309.21 | I agree with putting Alexa over Bliss in general. Still, at least await a bit before giving Bliss the belt back.
I think where I thought it got really messed up was during the Charlotte/Bliss feud, and then not following through with a big time Bliss/Bayley feud.
Charlotte's "undefeated only on PPV!" streak was ridiculously meaningless and had no payoff (and, insultingly, was blown off just before WrestleMania), and Sasha really could have had a prolonged reign rather than trading back and forth with Charlotte, who was SD bound anyway.
(edited by SKLOKAZOID on 19.9.17 1110) | Spiraling_Shape
Andouille
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| #6 Posted on 20.9.17 0601.25
Reposted on: 20.9.24 0601.27 | | From what I read, Sasha "was conspicuous by her absence at the Mae Young Classic finale" because they had already scheduled her to do promo overseas when it was being taped. | andy1278
Bockwurst
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| #7 Posted on 20.9.17 1026.13
Reposted on: 20.9.24 1026.16 | Yeah, Sasha was overseas for both the MYC tapings and the finale.
I wouldn't read too much into all of this. I'm annoyed by the short title reigns too, but at least she's in the picture. She's going up and down, back and forth in top merch sales for the ladies between her and Alexa. She will be okay. Really she just needs to get back to being heel Sasha and hmmm, her perfect foil just returned. | | ALL ORIGINAL POSTS IN THIS THREAD ARE NOW AVAILABLE |
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