With Extreme Rules mere hours away, rumors have spread like wildfire that The Boss Sasha Banks will be making her return to WWE. At WrestleMania 35; Banks and current SmackDown Live Women’s Champion Bayley lost their Women’s Tag Team Championships. Banks was furious over this, and that Bayley her real-life best-friend would be parting ways with her via The Superstar Shakeup. What if instead of coming to the aid of her so-called friend, Banks shows her true colors and turns heel? Which would lead into the fantastic Bayley vs. Banks match, and how fitting to have the long-awaited clash at SummerSlam?
In A Galaxy Far Far Away In 2015
In what seems like an eternity ago in NXT; the world witnessed the beginning of The Boss as the cocky and arrogant NXT Women’s Champion, and Bayley the resilient babyface overcoming all the obstacles to achieve her childhood dreams. After weeks of criticizing Bayley’s huggable and happy-go-lucky personality, Banks put her coveted prize on the line at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn.
Both champion and challenger stole the show, in one of the most brilliantly written matches in NXT history to date. Bayley shocked the world including Banks herself and hit her signature Bayley-2-Belly to claim the NXT Women’s Championship. This was the beginning of the Women’s Revolution; and it was an ending chapter for Banks who recently made her main roster debut on Raw, all the Four Horsewomen (Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Bayley and even the former NXT champion herself) did their signature four-horsewomen hand gesture in a show of respect.
What a funny term to use, because of their final clash at NXT TakeOver: Respect; in first-ever 30 Minute Women’s Ironman Match and women’s main-event in WWE history, a huge accomplishment for the amazingly gifted female superstars. Bayley was out to prove the doubters wrong, and to Banks that she was the real deal. In another show-stealing performance, Bayley and her rival tore the house down, with this being The Boss’s swan song to black and gold brand Bayley successfully retained her NXT Women’s Championship.
An Unlikely Friendship Is Born
Fast Forward to September of 2016; Banks had morphed into a sympathetic babyface after her desires of becoming the Raw Women’s Championship was thwarted by, then-Raw Women’s Champion Charlotte’s evil apprentice Dana Brooke. The Boss was sick of the overwhelming two-on-one beatdowns week after week, so she made a tag team match against her adversaries with a “Mystery partner at the Battleground pay-per-view. The WWE Universe was shocked when the NXT fan-favorite Bayley made her initial step towards her long-awaited main roster debut in WWE.
On August 22, 2016, Bayley made his official debut on Monday Night Raw just days after unsuccessfully reclaiming the NXT Women’s Championship from Asuka, she challenged then-Raw Women’s Champion Charlotte to a title match. Of course; the conceited and prideful champ declined and, she would get her first win on the main roster against Brooke.
Charlotte would defend her Raw women’s championship at Clash of Champions against the unlikely friends’ Banks and Bayley. The dastardly heel retained her title by hook or by crook.
Bayley then entered a short program with Charlotte’s protege Brooke, which culminated at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view with Bayley getting the win. At next month’s Survivor Series pay-per-view; Team Raw (Raw Women’s Champion Charlotte, Bayley, Sasha Banks, Alicia Fox, and Nia Jax) went head-to-head against Team SmackDown (Nikki Bella, Carmella, Naomi, Alexa Bliss, and SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch), in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series Elimination Match. With the resilient Bayley getting the victory for her team, Charlotte blasted her with a stiff right hand.
Bayley won a number-one contender’s match to challenge her adversary at 2017 Royal Rumble but was unsuccessful. Bayley earned her rematch by teaming up with Sheamus and Cesaro to defeat Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and the Raw women’s champion Charlotte. On February 16, 2017, the huggable one would finally achieve her dreams by defeating Charlotte via outside assistance from her best-friend Banks. Soon after her defeat, the bitter former champion attempted to create tension between Bayley and Banks by claiming, the only reason Banks helped her win is because she’s out of title shots from Charlotte.
At WrestleMania 33, Bayley would defend her Raw Women’s Championship against Nia Jax, Sasha Banks, and Charlotte in a Fatal-four-way Elimination Match. During the match, all three women triple-powerbombed the monstrous Jax and eliminated her. The wily and methodical shoved banks into an exposed turnbuckle to eliminate her. It now did Bayley and the former champion, as Charlotte went back to the well and smashed her head against the exposed turnbuckle which allowed Bayley to hit her signature Flying Elbow Drop to successfully retain her championship.
Bayley would lose her Raw Women’s Championship at next month’s Payback pay-per-view to the newest Raw draftee, Alexa Bliss. She would continue into a program with her trying to reclaim her title but was unsuccessful. At the end of the year, Bayley would once again join forces with Banks alongside Mickie James to topple the dangerous faction dubbed Absolution (Paige, Mandy Rose, and Sonya DeVille). Bayley and her best-friend would get involved in a feud with members of the group, with several tag team matches and one-on-one contests.
Is The Feud Really Happening?
At the 2018 Royal Rumble in the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble Match, Bayley who entered as #29 would be eliminated by her so-called best-friend Banks. A few weeks later, At the 2018 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Bliss would defend her Raw Women’s Championship against Banks, Bayley, James, DeVille, and Rose in the inaugural Women’s Elimination Chamber Match. During the dangerous match, Banks would kick her so-called best-friend Bayley off a pod, which the WWE Universe reacted ecstatically and cost her the title.
At Wrestlemania 34 Bayley would return the favor by eliminating Banks in the inaugural Women’s Battle Royal Match. Following that both Bayley and Banks would interfere and cost each other matches. On March 26, 2018, the former best friends would get into a backstage brawl that had to be separated. On April 17, 2018, Bayley and Banks would have a one-on-one contest but, it would be broken up by a new band of rebels labeled The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan).
With tensions at an all-time high, Bayley and Banks were forced to go to counseling to repair the friendship thus the beginning of The Boss n Hug Connection.
At 2019 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Banks and Bayley would become the inaugural WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions by defeating Nia Jax and Tamina Snuka, Riott Squad (Morgan and Logan), The Iconics (Peyton Royce and Billy Kay), and Absolution (Rose and DeVille).
At WrestleMania 35 The Boss n Hug Connection would defend their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships against Jax and Snuka, Royce and Kay, and the recently returned Divas of Doom (Natalya and Beth Phoenix). Banks and Bayley would lose their titles to the cowardly and wily Royce and Kay.
Bye-Bye To The Boss?
Following their soul-crushing loss at Mania; Banks apparently tried to quit WWE WrestleMania weekend after she was under the impression she and Bayley would have a stronger title reign, helping to add major prestige to WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. The situation got much worse after uncovering another contributing factor to Banks quitting. On April 17th edition Wrestling Observer Radio Dave Meltzer shared:
“That had to do with the Sasha Banks/Bayley stuff being unhappy, was not only that they were losing the championship that they found out on Sunday, but they were told that they were splitting up the team…”
To add even more speculation to the Banks situation she posted this on April 19, 2019 on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/SashaBanksWWE/status/1115431410062508032?s=19
https://twitter.com/SashaBanksWWE/status/1134185047710425088/photo/1
On May 23, 2019, one week after Banks reportedly met with the CEO of WWE Vince McMahon she sent out this tweet.
https://twitter.com/SashaBanksWWE/status/1134185047710425088/photo/1
WWE and Banks have been in weekly negotiations since her time apart in early April. It seems there is a very good chance we could see the return of The Boss tonight in the SmackDown Live Women’s Championship Match. I am hoping that this match finally happens on the main roster after multiple teases maybe one of Bank’s demands to come back was to hand the rivalry that the NXT faithful members have been clamoring for since Bayley arrived in 2016.
