[28 / 4 / 23]
Fightful Select has learned more about the Sasha Banks and Naomi situation.
Contrary to other reports, it was reiterated to us by numerous sources close to the situation that while Naomi was scheduled to win, she was not to pin Sasha Banks as the match was pitched to the talent involved. In fact, according to those close to the match, it was being planned so Naomi and Banks were not supposed to attack each other during the laid out match -- which was the same for another tag team in Doudrop and Nikki ASH. Naomi was set to win on Raw, then lose to Bianca Belair at Hell in a Cell.
Based on WWE's statement, it appeared that Naomi and Sasha Banks felt uncomfortable or unsafe working with two of the four women, which hadn't made it back to those talent themselves until the statement was issued. To the contrary, we were told that the issue was about the creative surrounding the tag team championships and those being de-emphasized in the following weeks, with no laid out follow up after Hell in a Cell. Sasha Banks and Naomi have been vocal about developing more stories within the tag team division.
Interestingly enough, we're told that heading out of the weekend, a singles match was actually originally scheduled, before it was changed to a six-pack challenge. There were several segments planned for the night's show to set it up. When Sasha Banks and Naomi left, Vince McMahon was made aware at Gorilla that happened, and a segment was set up for Becky Lynch and Adam Pearce to turn the match into a singles. The six-way was scheduled to go three segments, the longest of anything on WWE Raw.
We're told Vince McMahon decided to reference the incident and was feeding lines throughout the night, though we can't be sure which lines directly came from him. There wasn't any heat we heard on anyone delivering the lines, as it was widely considered a "just doing their job" type of thing from those we spoke to.
Contrary to other reports, it was reiterated to us by numerous sources close to the situation that while Naomi was scheduled to win, she was not to pin Sasha Banks as the match was pitched to the talent involved. In fact, according to those close to the match, it was being planned so Naomi and Banks were not supposed to attack each other during the laid out match -- which was the same for another tag team in Doudrop and Nikki ASH. Naomi was set to win on Raw, then lose to Bianca Belair at Hell in a Cell.
Based on WWE's statement, it appeared that Naomi and Sasha Banks felt uncomfortable or unsafe working with two of the four women, which hadn't made it back to those talent themselves until the statement was issued. To the contrary, we were told that the issue was about the creative surrounding the tag team championships and those being de-emphasized in the following weeks, with no laid out follow up after Hell in a Cell. Sasha Banks and Naomi have been vocal about developing more stories within the tag team division.
Interestingly enough, we're told that heading out of the weekend, a singles match was actually originally scheduled, before it was changed to a six-pack challenge. There were several segments planned for the night's show to set it up. When Sasha Banks and Naomi left, Vince McMahon was made aware at Gorilla that happened, and a segment was set up for Becky Lynch and Adam Pearce to turn the match into a singles. The six-way was scheduled to go three segments, the longest of anything on WWE Raw.
We're told Vince McMahon decided to reference the incident and was feeding lines throughout the night, though we can't be sure which lines directly came from him. There wasn't any heat we heard on anyone delivering the lines, as it was widely considered a "just doing their job" type of thing from those we spoke to.
