In the past 24 hours, Sasha Banks and Naomi are said to have been dropped from WWE’s internal roster.
Banks and Naomi were recently removed from the internal talent roster, according to a new report from PWInsider, however there have been no official signs that they have left the company.
Additionally, it was mentioned that there had been some rumors that Banks will do signings outside of WWE later this fall, but nothing had been confirmed.
For what it’s worth, as of the time of writing, Banks and Naomi are both still listed on the public WWE roster as SmackDown Superstars.
As PWMania.com previously reported, Banks’ release from her contract was reported in mid-June by Raj Giri of WrestlingInc, but no other information was given. WrestleVotes confirmed the information, but no other sources have. At that time, it was also stated that Banks’ lawyers were and had been working on getting her released. Later, in late June, Giri stated that Banks’ release had been secured on Friday, June 10, but that nothing had been made public because WWE “leadership was trying to smooth things over” in an apparent effort to keep Banks with the company. It was also mentioned that Banks’ release on June 10 “came from” Erika Schreiber, WWE’s Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs for Talent Relations, who supposedly gave her approval. Nobody at WWE is reportedly denying that Banks was released, which is rare at this point given how many weeks have passed. According to an earlier report from June, sources in WWE were not denying that Banks had been released; they were simply not confirming it.
Banks and Naomi were still featured on the internal roster at the same time Giri reported that Banks’ release had been secured, according to PWInsider. PWInsider is now reporting that both have been removed.
Banks and Naomi left RAW on the May 16 episode because they were reportedly unhappy with the creative. The WWE then announced the two were suspended and stripped them of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles. They were suspended without pay, it was later discovered. Additionally, their merchandise was removed for the duration of the suspension.
WWE announced that a tournament would be organized to crown new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions after suspending Naomi and Banks indefinitely and without pay. However, there has been no update on that event either.
Stay tuned to PWMania.com for more.
