The biggest story coming out of Monday's WWE Raw was Sasha Banks & Naomi walking out of the show after being advertised for the main event.
In a statement put out by WWE, Sasha & Naomi "claimed they weren’t respected enough as tag team champions" and "they walked into WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis’ office with their suitcases in hand, placed their tag team championship belts on his desk and walked out."
Mickie James, who has had an up and down relationship with WWE ranging from getting her belongs back in a trash bag after being released to returning for the 2022 women' Royal Rumble, weighed in on the situation on Busted Open Radio.
"Sasha is a star. 'Oh, are other companies going to be worried about working with them?' No, because they are stars. You can't take away from the value that they have a being over and merchandise sales and talent and ability and love and passion for the business. That's probably more about what this is, unpacking it all, if they were pouring their love into something and feeling like it wasn't valued. That's very frustrating. We can all understand being frustrated at time. I'm sure we've all had our gripes. You think it's the power of social media, but WWE is the one that pulled the trigger on letting the cat out of the bag. People are only hearing that one side of it," she said.
Co-host Tommy Dreamer clarified that he wasn't sure if WWE could trust working with them after this incident.
Mickie continued by saying, "When you go, 'they made a stand for them, but the machine keeps going.' That's a reality of when things get to this point, not a lot of people stand up for themselves. I think there is a lot of times where people want to say something or feel a certain way or do something and feel justified in feeling that way, as they should, however they don't say anything and they put a smile on and walk out there and do a job, whether they like it or not. We've all done that. That's another reason why I applaud them for standing up for themselves. It is a big statement and it's unfortunate that they felt the need to get to that level and it's unfortunate that you don't hear people standing up for themselves and it gets to that point that it gets to."
Dreamer then noted that money could resolve some issues, pointing out at he did things like drink the Undertaker's tobacco because he was paid extra for the segment.
James replied, "The pay scale for men and women are very different. I don't know what the money actually is. It's way different. When you say, 'the tag titles are booked like midcard titles,' I feel like the women have always been seen as lower to midcard level of the boys. Even the top female stars, I don't think it's ever been true equality in the pay structure. When you say, 'it's about the money,' one, money can't buy happiness. If you're frustrated and not happy, sometimes it does take a break and you need a reset."
James mentioned that she was thankful she had an open line of communication with Dreamer in OVW and she was allowed to take a break when she was frustrated. She also said she was frustrated at times during her WWE career, citing the infamous Piggie James storyline, but she wanted to make it the best she could.
Sasha & Naomi have yet to publicly comment on the situation. Fightful Select has more details on them walking out and backstage reactions to it.
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