Over the weekend, the repercussions from the walk out of Raw continued. With this style of news, the overall feeling is that there is something bigger floating beneath the surface, and it may be some time, if ever, that we get to the real meat of the whole affair. There is a new layer that is interesting.
It was originally from Dave Meltzer and popped up a few places since, and it was that Banks had been upset for a while that her spot at the show had been scrapped in favor of a match with Charlotte. There is still a title match on the card, but it is not in the prime spot that a championship match with Flair would have been.
That news would be a big deal for any wrestling fan.
On the surface, it gives a whole new context to the section where they claimed Banks and Naomi were uncomfortable in the ring with two opponents they had worked with. The picture becomes clearer if we read between the lines a bit.
The company ignores her tag title run with Naomi for a couple months and essentially puts the belts on ice because of the rumors that Banks was going to lose at Hell In A Cell. It hasn't gone well for Banks before. You can empathise with her fear that she will look worse at the cost of her current run. She had already done it once, and the injury that followed almost cost her a spot at Mania.
It goes deeper than that. Banks have to see what we see. The argument is that she is a bigger name than Banks. Is that true? Banks is more popular among wrestling fans than the other, and he is a better worker and bigger star than the other. Is name recognition a thing in wrestling? Even if it is, we are still talking about a person in Banks who is making inroads in Hollywood. The person on the street might have heard more about Banks than about Rousey.
It's not something that WWE would argue about, but the reaction to her at the Royal Rumble or at Mania is something that they would point out. She's going to get those reactions even if they put her there. Fans are cheering every entrance and they know the name of the wrestler. You could trot out Serena Williams in the same spot and almost certainly get a bigger reaction. Fans in the arena will cheer for any surprise. It might be a bigger pop than most, mostly due to the surprise, but that doesn't mean love or adoration. It is an impulse.
Her performance at the event was not as good as the one Paul trotted out with The Miz, but her spot at the event was still a big deal. Banks issues are probably there. In this latest run, she has gone through the motions, both in the ring and with her character work, the possible exception being her last match with Charlotte. Since her debut four years ago, she hasn't really had a great match, and has moaned to anyone who would listen when things didn't go as she thought they would. If that was part of the problem, then Banks is the first to think that Rousey isn't the safest worker because she hasn't bothered to learn how to transition into a wrestler.
You could never accuse Banks of not throwing her all into whatever she was asked to do, even if it was dumb or wasteful of her talents. She hasn't talked about it publicly, or walked through shows that didn't meet her level of approval like Charlotte. She has not driven everyone nuts backstage. She only had the best match on the card last year, when she was given the chance on the biggest stage. There is no question that Banks match with Bianca Belair was better than the one with Rousey. In every way that should matter, Banks has run around. Brock Lesnar beating Big E for the WWE Championship in January and Goldberg pinning The Fiend in 2020 are two examples of part-time talent being built up at the expense of those in it for the long haul. If Banks doesn't want to be used as a cannon fodder for Rousey, INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals
After doing all she can with whatever she gets, she was asked to act as a boost to a person who has already injured her, someone who took her slot simply by existing, and someone who is terrible at that. The quality of matches Banks couldlch out every day if asked, has never come close to being put on by Rousey. Over the years, Banks has worked hard to get the name she has within the pro wrestling industry. The man simply walked in and didn't do much more than that. It's easy to see where Banks went.
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