Sasha Banks has returned to WWE after a near-2-month absence, appearing at Extreme Rules to confront Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch!
Just over 16 minutes into her tense battle with Becky Lynch over the SmackDown Women’s Championship, Bianca Belair deadlifted the champion out of the Disarmher and looked certain to recapture the gold with the KOD before her Banks made her return and attacked the challenger. The match was ruled a no contest as a result.
Becky and Sasha teased a potential alliance against ‘The EST of WWE’ after the bout but Banks laid out Lynch as well, walking away as the champion desperately clutched onto her title.
This marks Sasha Banks’ first WWE appearance since the August 13th edition of SmackDown after which she and Belair were pulled from live events due to “unforeseen circumstances”. Belair would return in time for her SummerSlam bout against Banks but ‘The Boss’ failed to appear, allowing Becky Lynch to take her place and capture Belair’s title in just 26 seconds.
A report via Fightful Select following SummerSlam revealed the reason Banks did not appear was that she was not cleared to compete in time for ‘The Biggest Party Of The Summer’:
“In asking WWE sources, Fightful was told that Sasha Banks wasn’t cleared to compete and the company hoped to have her back soon.”
Sasha remains on the SmackDown brand for now but the upcoming WWE Draft could well have her move to RAW where she is a five-time RAW Women’s Champion.