As most WWE fans know, Sasha Banks came back to the company in August after a four-month break, becoming a vicious heel as she ultimately kicked off a feud with the reigning Raw Women’s Champion, Becky Lynch. And with Banks aiming to defeat Lynch for the title on Sunday at Clash in Champions , “The Boss” finally opened up about the reason why she went on such a long hiatus in the aftermath of WrestleMania 35 in April.
In a recent appearance on WFNZ’s The Mac Attack , Banks discussed several topics, including her controversial decision to take a break from WWE. As quoted by Wrestling Inc ., Banks did not mention the rumors that had surrounded her around the time she was allowed to take time off from the company. However, she nonetheless emphasized that she needed this layoff after working “with no breaks” for WWE for seven straight years.
“People need to step back, re-evaluate their lives, take care of their souls, and their minds,” Banks continued. “I’m back and better than ever. I got myself a championship match on Sunday, so I think I did quite well for myself.”
In addition to her four-month WWE hiatus, Banks recalled being inspired to become a professional wrestler as a young girl when she first watched the late Eddie Guerrero. She also talked about how women’s wrestling has evolved over the years, from the time when female performers were mostly booked as valets, to the present, where women have gotten their own all-female WWE pay-per-view and gotten to main event WrestleMania .
I’m bigger than life. My name in the lights, I’m the number one check. I don’t need no hype. pic.twitter.com/SlYgDIGWAU
— Mercedes Moné Varnado (@MercedesVarnado) September 8, 2019
Talking about NXT’s upcoming move to the USA Network as a live, two-hour show, Banks said that she’s proud to see how far the black-and-gold brand has come since she made her WWE debut as a developmental talent.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , Sasha Banks returned to WWE television on the August 12 episode of Monday Night Raw and cut a promo two weeks later on the same show, where she explained that she chose to walk out after WrestleMania 35 because she was upset with being overshadowed by Becky Lynch, both in terms of the WrestleMania card and her paycheck for the event.
The above reasons were, however, storyline-related reasons, as several reports alleged that Banks went on a break because she was upset over WWE’s booking at the time. After holding the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships for a short period of time as inaugural titleholders, Banks and Bayley notably lost their belts to The IIconics at WrestleMania 35 , despite their supposed expectations that they would be given a long reign as champions.