Sasha Banks lost the WWE Raw Women's Title to Charlotte Flair at WWE "Roadblock: End of the Line" on Sunday, in a 30 Minute Iron Man Match. Sasha tapped out to the Figure 8 with just two seconds left in the match, causing it to end in a 2-2 tie. The match then went into Sudden Death Overtime, where Charlotte regained the title by submission.
The end of regulation time was quite controversial, with Sasha unable to hold out long enough to secure the win and instead tapping just before the time ran out. She was quite obviously watching the clock and some fans felt it made her look stupid or weak.
Well, as with most things in the WWE, it turns out this was a Vince McMahon idea.
Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that most within the company were against this booking idea, but that Vince insisted, thinking it would really build the crowd reaction, only to pull the rug out from under them.
Since the event was taking place in Pittsburgh, the thought was no one would care about the match or make any noise and it would drag. Vince believed that the crowd would be super excited for Sasha to retain her title, and that they would count down the final 10 seconds of the match, but that their excitement would be deflated when Sasha tapped out with just 2 seconds left. Vince thought it was going to be such a great moment, but instead it just seemed to take all the air out of the building--and not in a positive way. Most seem to agree that the finish was not the moment that Vince was hoping for.
