The Latest On Sasha Banks And Naomi's WWE Status
There's a new update regarding Sasha Banks and Naomi.
Raj Giri received word early this month that Banks was let go by WWE, a story that was later backed up by WrestleVotes. However, a new report by Mike Johnson of PWInsider says that both she and Naomi are still listed on the active roster internally. According to Johnson, neither Banks nor Naomi has been officially released from the company.
After the initial story came out, Fightful Select reported there was backstage talk at the June 17 episode of "WWE SmackDown" which suggested that Banks, at least, had been released. Fightful cited talent who "would be in the position to know" if the release had occurred. Johnson's report, however, seems to have officially put these rumors to bed.
Banks and Naomi walked out before the May 16 episode of "WWE Raw" after the two were booked to participate in a six-person scramble later that night. Following that move, Banks and Naomi were suspended indefinitely without pay and were publicly outed on-air by WWE. The two were stripped of their Women Tag Team Titles and all their merchandise items were removed from WWE Shop. In addition to that, any presence on promotional materials has been removed, including headers and advertisements for "Raw." Just recently, WWE digitally removed Sasha Banks' name from a fan sign in the crowd.
Banks' contract was reportedly set to expire around two months following her walk out, and it was believed that Naomi was in the middle of renegotiating her contract at the time. While Banks' personal social media accounts have remained largely untouched, she has shown up in photos with a new look that ventures away from her on-air persona. Naomi was the first of the two to break her social media silence earlier in the month with a video of her and Jimmy Uso on the beach together.