Wrestling

Backstage WWE Status Update on Sasha Banks and Naomi

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Sasha Banks and Naomi were reportedly removed from WWE’s internal roster in the last 24 hours.

A new report from PWInsider notes that there have been no official indications that Banks and Naomi are gone from the company, but they were removed from the internal talent roster in the last day.

It was also noted that there has been some talk of Banks doing signings outside of WWE later this fall, but nothing is official.

For what it’s worth, Banks and Naomi are both still listed as SmackDown Superstars on the public WWE roster as of this writing.

It was reported in mid-June, via Raj Giri of WrestlingInc, that Banks had been released from her contract, but no other details were provided. WrestleVotes later backed that report up, but no other sources have. It was also reported at that point that Banks’ lawyers were working on her release, and had been working on it. Giri then reported in late June that Banks’ release was secured on Friday, June 10, and that nothing had been publicly announced yet because WWE “leadership was trying to smooth things over,” to likely try and keep Banks with the company. It was also noted that Banks’ June 10 release “came from” WWE’s Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs for Talent Relations, Erika Schreiber, who reportedly signed off on the release. It was also said that no one in WWE is saying Banks was not released, which is unusual after this many weeks into it. This is in line with an earlier report from June, which said sources in WWE were not denying Banks was released, just that they were not confirming it.

At the same time Giri was reporting Banks’ release had been secured, PWInsider was still saying Banks and Naomi both were still listed on the internal roster. Now PWInsider is reporting that both have been removed.

Banks and Naomi reportedly walked out of RAW at the May 16 show, due to frustration over creative. WWE then stripped them of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles, and announced that the two were suspended indefinitely. It was later revealed that they were suspended without pay. Their merchandise was also pulled for the duration of the suspension.

After suspending Naomi and Banks indefinitely and without pay, WWE announced that a tournament would be held to crown new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, but there’s been no update on that tournament either.

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