Sasha Banks and WWE reportedly ‘at a stalemate’

Earlier, we had an update on Ronda Rousey which more or less confirmed what we already knew about the former Raw Women’s champion’s relationship with WWE. Now it’s her Royal Rumble opponent’s turn.

There are a couple differences between the reports on Rowdy and this one about Sasha Banks, though. For one thing, news of The Boss doesn’t come straight from the source. Banks has remained silent on her situation - where she is said to have been given time off to reconsider her position after threatened to quit WWE upon finding out that she & Bayley would drop the Women’s Tag titles at WrestleMania 35 and be split in the Superstar Shake-up.

Instead, we’re still relying on wrestling media and their sources for information. And according to Dave Meltzer on the edition of Wrestling Observer Radio from after the April 22 Raw, there’s not a whole lot to report. And it could remain that way for a long time, as WWE sounds willing to wait Sasha out:

“Sasha Banks, the situation is unchanged. They are right now at a stalemate and the word - of course, you know how this goes - but the word is that if she wants to sit out the rest of her contract, she can sit out the rest of her contract. Of course, if you know what that means - that means she’s going to be sitting out forever. Because they’re going to add time for her not working so... these contracts are very, very difficult.”

The strategy of adding time to her contract is what allegedly went on with Neville/PAC. WWE contracts are written to cover periods when the performers are active, so it’s said the company can extend them for time wrestlers miss due to injury, rehabilitation or situations such as the time off it’s believed Banks has been given now.

As he’s said in the past, Meltzer reiterated that WWE does hope The Boss returns, and have plans to use her at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view (PPV) on May 19. Her status for that show is obviously not set in stone, though, and each week she’s out would probably make it less likely we’ll see her in Hartford next month.