Tom Clark: How Will WWE Fans React if Sasha Banks Returns at ‘Extreme Rules’?

Sasha Banks could be on her way back to WWE. The Boss revealed on her Instagram that she’s been working out in the ring recently and she’s still in great shape. This comes on the eve of Bayley’s SmackDown Live Women’s title defense at Extreme Rules on July 14, which could be the perfect moment for Sasha to return.

Everything seems to be lining up for The Boss’s big comeback. But the only question is, how will fans respond to Sasha Banks if she does indeed come back on July 14? Will she return to the warm embrace of the WWE faithful, or will she return as the company’s hottest new heel?

Banks has been in a self-imposed exile from WWE since April 7. She and Bayley lost the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships to The IIconics at WrestleMania 35 that night, which ultimately led to Banks’ departure.

Sasha was reportedly unhappy with the title loss, mostly because she and Bayley were being constructed as the team to beat in WWE. It just didn’t seem to make much sense to take the belts away from The Boss ’N’ Hug Connection that night and it makes even less sense now. 

The IIconics have underperformed since becoming tag team champions. Instead of rising to the occasion, the pair seem to have taken a step backward. They have not showed significant improvements in their team work, or their individual work in the ring. 

But The IIconics are the ones that got the nod for the titles, while Banks and Bayley, two established WWE Superstars and cornerstones of the women’s division, walked away empty handed. Whether that logic is logical is debatable. After all, championships do not necessarily represent a talent’s worth. 

Evidently in Sasha Banks’ mind, one definitely had something to do with the other. However while many fans completely understood her point of view and respected her for taking a stand, many others believed she was being selfish.

Therein lays the issue with Banks’ possible return. Her three month absence from WWE has either improved her standing with fans, or it’s damaged her beyond repair, at least for now. Pro wrestling fans can forgive, but they don’t ever forget and it will be interesting to see exactly how The Boss will be received if she walks back into the company.

But did she ever really walk away? Sasha was apparently not happy with her creative direction in WWE, so she spoke her mind. When she perhaps did not hear what she wanted to hear, she protested and then the two sides were at a stalemate. While some would look at that situation and say that Banks should have just rolled with it and kept going, that may not have been a option.

Sasha Banks has shared the spotlight of the Women’s Evolution from the very beginning. She was one of the Superstars that made the movement work and there is no denying that her contributions to the company became a very important part of her generation’s history. So why wouldn’t she voice her concern when her character was perhaps moving in the wrong direction?

Banks didn’t leave when she was out of title contention. She also didn’t leave after every short title reign, which did not benefit her in the long run. Banks went with the program and she did it all as a vital part of the women’s division. She knew her worth and she obviously did not feel that worth was being negatively impacted.

But when that viewpoint changed, she was suddenly at an impasse. Banks could no longer move forward if WWE Creative did not understand her, or what she believed should happen for her character within the storyline. Many would immediately react and say that it’s not about her and that it’s just one angle anyway. Why not just tough it out and don’t whine about the fact that she lost on the biggest stage of them all, while undoubtedly getting a very healthy payday?

However, those same fans are likely the ones that are always upset when a talent does not take her role in the company seriously. Fans want Superstars to care about their craft, to stand up and speak out when creative hands them something silly. If that happened on a more regular basis, then perhaps Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live both would not be as ridiculous as they often are. Right?

But there is a fine line between pride and ego and for many pro wrestlers, the two are one and the same. How much of Sasha’s problem with her creative direction in WWE came from her heart and how much came from her head? Did she make it all about her, or did she genuinely believe that WWE was making yet another nonsensical decision with no real thought beforehand?

The fact is that anything could happen if Sasha comes back to WWE at Extreme Rules. The Philadelphia crowd could likely turn on her from the moment that her music hits. She would be the most hated person in the building and that would surely spark a brand new heel run for her in the company.

Or the crowd could perhaps be on her side, especially after watching just how weak Raw and SmackDown has been over the past several months. WWE was supposedly putting the fans in the driver’s seat, but that has just not been the case. The company continues to misfire on TV and pay-per-view. Maybe all of that will immediately come to mind when fans see Sasha, the one person who actively rebelled against WWE’s bizarre booking.

No matter what happens, the truth is that the Sasha Banks situation is likely not over. She’s living her dream in WWE and there’s been no indication that she’s quitting, or that she even can quit in the first place. Banks loves the company and loves the business. Wether or not any of that will influence how fans will react if she returns, is anyone’s guess.