On May 16, reigning WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Sasha Banks & Naomi walked out of WWE Raw. WWE issued a statement on the matter, saying, "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."
They were indefinitely suspended on the May 20 episode of WWE SmackDown.
As Fightful Select reported, Sasha was to be involved in a six pack challenge with Naomi, Asuka, Doudrop and Nikki ASH. During the Raw broadcast, it was announced, then changed to Asuka vs. Becky Lynch and said that "Sasha Banks and Naomi left the building." Fightful was told that Sasha Banks had a meeting with Vince McMahon and voiced her displeasure about a situation, and wouldn't budge on her stance. Vince McMahon was also said to be unwilling to budge.
An official announcement regarding the statuses of Banks & Naomi has not been made, but they have reportedly been removed from the internal roster.
Vince retired from WWE on July 22 and Triple H assumed duties as lead creative and talent relations. As a result of the major change in WWE, Saraya (Paige) believes Sasha and Naomi will be back in WWE.
"She's a big part of it," Saraya said about Banks' role in the women's evolution during a Starrcast V media scrum (via SEScoops). "Everyone loves Sasha Banks, right? The Four Horsewomen, in general, are such a big part of the women's revolution. I think she'll be back. Now with Hunter in charge and taking the reigns, just SummerSlam in general showed how much WWE has changed overnight. I don't think anyone has 100% been happy with a pay-per-view in a long time, but people were walking about from SummerSlam like, 'holy shit. This is a turning point.' Eventually, Sasha and Naomi, hopefully, will come back."
Saraya mentioned how she was happy to see Dakota Kai at SummerSlam. Kai was released by WWE in April, but returned and aligned herself with Bayley and IYO SKY (Io Shirai) at WWE SummerSlam.
During the scrum, Saraya was asked about her own potential return. If she does return, she would like to face Banks.
"I feel if I come back, I would love to face Sasha, because it's a built in storyline, and she's a fantastic wrestler. I would love to face Britt Baker. I think she's incredible. I have to be careful and I still have that mind block right now, but eventually, for the right time and person, I'll definitely have a match for sure," she said.
Saraya last wrestled at a live event on December 27, 2017, teaming with Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville in a six-woman tag against Bayley, Mickie James & Sasha Banks. During the bout, Banks kicked Saraya in the upper back/neck area, leading to injury.
Saraya has said she has no ill will towards Banks over the incident.
Saraya's contract with WWE expired on July 7 and she wasn't re-signed. She is currently a free agent.
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