This whole thing just seemed to fail in multiple ways. There were even dirtsheet reports of talent being unhappy about it. I think it was a pointless angle. Beyond that, Sasha just said something that is terrible for her character to say. There is a lot to get into.
First, why did they even bother? Sasha Banks was only gone for what ended up being two weeks. Just have her return by attacking Charlotte, which she has done before to a lot of buzz from wrestling fans. Or have her return to save Bayley from an attack from Charlotte and Dana Brooke. Or have her return while Charlotte and Bayley are having an in-ring promo. There was no need to tease that her injury issues might lead to her retiring.
Why did they do it? The WWE is either very stupid or they are trying to fool someone. It was Labor Day last Monday. There was a college football game on between two good teams, and the game ended up being somewhat competitive. How would the WWE compete against that? Hyping something and building up to it is an efficient way to draw. Problem is, Sasha Banks isn't that over and isn't that well-known with the wider audience. Why would they care to tune it? If the WWE thought Sasha Banks could draw big in this situation, they overestimated her and made a big mistake. Or were they just doing it to sell that they want Sasha Banks to be a top star for them? They haven't exactly put in the work to properly get her over beyond wrestling fans.
A few months ago, I talked about how the women's division lacked star power. Someone commented that I underestimated Sasha Banks. He brought up the great ratings Raw had gotten one night, which was when Sasha Banks returned from an injury and attacked Charlotte. There were a number of reasons why you should not have made too much out of those numbers. To start with, it was the night after a PPV, which usually get good numbers. Beyond that, the WWE did not hype Sasha Banks returning. And she wasn't exactly out there for long. Even if Twitter buzz led to some fans tuning in, Sasha Banks was probably done doing anything interesting by the time they tuned in.
If Sasha Banks has the power to draw for the WWE, they gave her the opportunity to prove it last week. The seeds were planted before Raw even started. The WWE hyped it throughout the night. It led all the way to the third hour. How did Raw do last week? 3.06 million viewers. And viewership dropped each hour as the show went on. The hour involving Sasha Banks was the worst of the night, getting about 2.8 million viewers. The WWE obviously did not deliver with the intrigue of Triple H returning and screwing Seth Rollins. Why did he do it? Have to wait and find out. But they ran with this Sasha Banks angle, which could have drawn interest, if Sasha was as much of a draw as some people think.
Onto some talent reportedly being upset with the angle. The WWE ran with a fake retirement due to injury angle. That can hit home for some wrestlers. They watched the careers of some of their friends and legends they respect come to an end due to injury. There were even some workers there that night that could directly relate to injuries ruining their careers. I wasn't personally offended, but I can understand if some people really were offended. Just to make it clear, workers are reportedly upset with the WWE running the angle, not with Sasha Banks.
I have seen some fans say the WWE just did the same thing they did with Mark Henry years ago. Not exactly. Mark Henry has had his injury issues, but the WWE never led people to believe back then that he was being forced to retire due to injury when he did his memorable segment. It was just a guy that was in the WWE for a long time deciding to hang it up. With the Sasha Banks segment, the WWE was running with Sasha Banks having injury issues.
Just comparing the two segments, Mark Henry's was obviously better. But just back to the idea of Sasha Banks failing to draw a big audience with her angle, Mark Henry was a guy that has been in the business for decades, including during the Attitude Era, and has accomplished things outside of wrestling. Putting a person like that in this kind of situation is more likely to draw and make an impact than what the WWE did with Sasha Banks. Sasha has only been wrestling for 6 years now. She has not made a name for herself outside wrestling. Being related to a celebrity is not enough. Making a name for yourself in NXT is not enough. NXT does not get the wide audience the main roster gets.
Back to the idea of people being upset about the segment. It wouldn't be the first time the WWE exploited a sensitive subject, especially with the women, and had it flop. You just have to be sensitive these days. When Kevin Owens recently won the Universal Championship, someone from ESPN got trashed by fans for saying something on Twitter many viewed as insensitive in response to the son of Kevin Owens celebrating his dad's win. His son has autism. Made me think back to a comment I had made about his son having a new toy to play with when Owens won the new title. Should I feel bad for saying it? Should I apologize? I don't think I said anything offensive. That is still his son. He is 8. Kids that age play with title belts. I know teenagers and adults that play with title belts. But as far as the WWE goes, they take advantage of these kind of things to try to drum up controversy and draw for them. I would say it is worse for them to do this kind of thing.
As far as insensitive comments go, Sasha Banks said something in that segment last week that rubbed me the wrong way. She body-shamed Dana Brooke. I don't take offense to it personally. Even as a fan of Mickie James, what she said does not offend me because of bringing back any memories to what the WWE did to Mickie in her final months in the WWE.
The issue I have is that Sasha Banks should not be saying that. Not only is she a face, she is a woman that a lot of fans look at as some kind of hero. She is viewed as a hero to women's wrestling. She is viewed as a hero to women in general. And she slams a woman for how she looks? She just looks like a raging hypocrite. I have given Sasha Banks a fair shot in her first year on the main roster, but she has just not won me over at all. I don't know if that was a scripted comment coming from the WWE or if Sasha just did it on the fly to taunt Dana. Either way, it is garbage.
The rest of Sasha's promo before that wasn't exactly anything fresh. I am not saying anything about her execution. I am talking about the actual message. It was more feminist hype. The WWE just needs to cut it down. Enough of it. It is not entertaining. Even though some fans like hearing it, it is abrasive for a lot of other fans. It is one of the reasons this whole revolution has not been as widely successful as it could have been. You can treat these women better without making a theme out of it. That is what I would like to see.
Overall, I would love it if more of these women did stand up for themselves more backstage. If Sasha was told by the writers to make that body-shaming comment towards Dana, she should have put her foot down and refused. Not only are you making Dana look bad, you are making yourself look like a hypocrite. I sat there about 7 years ago and watched my favorite female wrestler allow herself to be humiliated by the WWE for the sake of exploiting her to get some woman over that can't do it for herself. How about you put your damn foot down and don't let that happen? You can talk about being in the WWE being a dream job and wanting to look like a team player all you want, but there are just some terrible decisions that don't make you look good, don't make the WWE look good, and don't succeed in accomplishing anything good. Why do it? Why allow it? This is the era of female empowerment? Okay, so when are these women going to put there foot down and stop these terrible segments from happening?
With Sasha Banks back, that throws a bit of a wrench in the feud that was developing between Bayley and Charlotte. The easy answer is to have a triple-threat match. Some fans have suggested one of the faces just feud with Dana Brooke for a while. Is that a feud anyone wants to see? Dana is not great in the ring, the result of the feud would be predictable, and they have already had Dana face both Baylay and Sasha in singles matches. It would just be pure filler. Reports suggest the WWE is not even sure how they want to handle things for the first Raw-exclusive PPV of the new era. They still have some time to put something together.
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