I’m a big fan of the post-SmackDown show Talking Smack, hosted by Renee Young and Daniel Bryan. A lot of that has to do with the charm and rapport of Renee and DB, but I also enjoy the “worked shoot” interviews where blue brand Superstars get a little leeway to advance their angles, and blur the lines of kayfabe.
After their pay-per-view (PPV) events, Team Red brings their own version of the concept with Raw Talk. They’ve even brought Young along for the ride. Results have been mixed, although the post-Great Balls of Fire edition did bring a look at Big Cass as a solo heel and an appearance by Talking Smack legend The Miz which didn’t disappoint.
It stood out, however, because of an interview with the #1 contender for the Raw Women’s title, Sasha Banks. Rumors of “legit heat” between Banks and champion Alexa Bliss have been around for ages, and WWE’s mission on Sunday, July 9 was clearly to bring those rumors into the on-screen story.
The Boss did such a thorough job of it that many fans are asking if she went too far.
We’ve transcribed the bulk of her comments so you can decide:
Renee Young: Uh, what’s up with you? How you feeling tonight?
Sasha Banks: Um, honestly, quite angry. I had her beat. I had her beat. And you know what it just proved to me that exactly what I said she was. She was a coward. She’s always been a coward, she’s always played this little game where she wants to politick her way out of every single match because she’s scared of me, and she knows that I’m the best, and she knows that I’m better than her.
Peter Rosenberg: I gotta ask you, you keep saying, she’s always been this, she’s always been that. There’s been a lot of chatter about the history with you two and that there has been no love lost for a long time. (SB: “Oh, no no no”) What is the deal with Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss?
Banks: You know, she came in so cute, so humbled. She came in so fake, with her fake little stories, her fake little “I love wrestling growing up, I love Matt Hardy”. You know what? You can’t even tell the difference between Jeff and Matt. You idiot. Yeah, we call you on all your lies, sweetheart. You’re just here to be another girl. Another heel. You just want to be here for a Hollywood act. You’re on Total Divas now, you’re getting what you want and you can talk your way into everything, but you know what? You can’t run away from me. You can talk this, but you can’t walk the walk - cause you’ll never be me. I’m a three time Women’s champion for a reason, and I will be a four time Women’s champion very soon. I won that match tonight, and I demand my rematch.
Rosenberg then asked if Sasha was worried her emotions might get the best of her in this rivalry, to which she replied:
You know, when you work so hard of... of trying to live your dreams since you were 10 years old and you see people and girls just come in and get everything handed to them because they want to play a certain way or act a certain way and just legit talk your way into a championship match, but you want to run away when it gets hard. I’ve never run away. I’ve always worked my butt off to get here. And I’ve worked my butt off to stay here. And I’m gonna keep on doing that until I need to prove to her and everyone out there that ever doubted me - I’m the best for the reason. I’m THE best. I’m the greatest women’s wrestler this company’s ever seen. And if she doesn’t believe me, she better just watch me.
Young tried to wrap things up, and throw some credit to Alexa for her hard work in climbing the WWE ladder, which prompted The Boss to interject:
What work, Renee? Look, you don’t have to come from the indies to be here, but you do have to respect it. You don’t need to lie your way saying “Oh my god, I love - I love this company”. Girl, you don’t need to lie, just be yourself. And if she was herself, maybe I would like her. There are girls who don’t like this business, but they learn to respect it. And she doesn’t show any respect. And that’s what I’m gonna teach her - respect.
Rosenberg tried one last time to close on a gracious note, but...
Just don't even ask @SashaBanksWWE. pic.twitter.com/5ovW5wWhs5
— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) July 10, 2017
This prompted a Tweet from Bliss and some chatter amongst the women’s ranks you can check out in our Social Slam here (and check out our own andrewmswift’s proposed response for Alexa), but while we wait to see how this plays out on Raw this evening...
Thoughts, Cagesiders?