WWE Rumors: Here’s Why Sasha Banks And Bayley Reportedly Dropped Women’s Tag Team Titles At ‘WrestleMania 35’
WWE’s decision to have Sasha Banks and Bayley lose the Women’s Tag Team Championships to The IIconics at WrestleMania 35 proved to be a controversial one. As documented in April by Sportskeeda, numerous rumors regarding the duo had swirled in the immediate aftermath of the show, including reports claiming that Banks had asked WWE to release her and also alleging that she and Bayley threw a backstage tantrum after they were told they would be dropping the titles. But with Banks reportedly about to return to WWE and Bayley currently doing well on SmackDown Live as the brand’s Women’s Champion, the recently retired Bella Twins took to their podcast to reveal the apparent reason behind the 11th-hour creative decision.
As quoted by WrestlingNews.co, Nikki and Brie Bella explained on the latest edition of their podcast that there were plans for the sisters to return to the ring after WrestleMania 35 in April, despite how they had both retired from the ring shortly before the event. However, as Nikki explained, her existing medical issues put a halt to those plans, which would have had them feuding with The IIconics for the Women’s Tag Team Championships.
“Brie and I, we were gonna come back and fight for the tag titles after WrestleMania and we were gonna go against The IIconics for a few months,” Nikki Bella revealed.
“Deep down inside, I kept having this weird feeling that I needed to get an x-ray on my neck because for a while I wasn’t feeling okay. Brie knows that in December after the [Evolution pay-per-view], I just kept telling her that I feel off and my head doesn’t feel right…”
Sasha Banks hinted at the possibility of more work with Bayley in WWE in a series of interactions with the Smackdown Women’s Champion. #SashaBanks #Bayley #WWE https://t.co/Kw9tCRuyrF pic.twitter.com/HTsoOatg3N
— 411 Wrestling (@411wrestling) July 5, 2019
Although Brie Bella added that she and Nikki were expected to begin their quest for the Women’s Tag Team Championships on the SmackDown Live after WrestleMania 35, she related that the results of Nikki’s MRI made it impossible for the pair to return to the ring as a duo. As reported previously by The Inquisitr, The Bella Twins appeared last month on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where Nikki confirmed that she had suffered complications from previous neck surgery and had a cyst on her brain, thus forcing her to stay retired.
According to WrestlingNews.co, the recent revelations from The Bella Twins don’t just explain why Sasha Banks and Bayley were surprisingly asked to drop their Women’s Tag Team titles on short notice. The outlet added that this could also be the reason why The IIconics have “not done anything noteworthy” in recent weeks. While IIconics members, Billie Kay and Peyton Royce, have been feuding with The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) on the live event circuit in recent weeks, this rivalry has barely been featured on WWE television.
Bayley is scheduled to defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Alexa Bliss at WWE’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view on July 14. While Banks’ nearly three month hiatus from WWE has yet to officially end, Pro Sports Extra‘s Brad Shepard tweeted over the weekend that, per an unnamed source, the former Raw Women’s Champion’s return is “imminent,” as she is now “happy” with recent backstage developments.
