It appears the WWE women’s division will be getting a boost with the return of former champions.
When Sasha Banks and Naomi “walked out” of a Raw taping Norfolk, Virginia on May 16, WWE sent out a rare statement making the issue public. Banks allegedly took issue with the creative direction of the show and met with former chairman and CEO Vince McMahon. The two sides stuck to their guns, and Banks walked out, with her tag team partner Naomi following her.
Some fans believed this to be a work — or part of a storyline — especially with WWE making the issue public, both in a statement and on-air through play-by-play announcer Michael Cole. However, this was not the case, and the situation was indeed a shoot — something that legitimately happened.
The former Women’s Tag Team Champions are still listed on WWE’s roster page, but their official status within the company has been unknown since May 16.
Banks had been silent on social media, but she posted pictures from her C2E2 appearance on Aug. 5 weekend. Naomi has been moderately active on social media, but her activity made no indication of her status in WWE.
But the former SmackDown Women’s Champion posted a screenshot of a TikTok featuring herself and Banks on Sunday. This comes after The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported the tag team could make a surprise appearance at the conclusion of the ongoing tag team tournament WWE is holding.
Their return to WWE would make sense. Paul “Triple H” Levesque is head of creative at WWE after McMahon resigned on July 22 amid his “hush money” scandal. Since Levesque has taken over, many past wrestlers have made their returns after being released or not re-signing — Dakota Kai, IYO SKY, Dexter Lumis, Karrion Kross, Scarlett and Hit Row.
Levesque has also given more of a spotlight on the women’s division since taking over — something he was known for when head of creative at NXT. Most notably, the Women’s Tag Team titles were vacated May 20, and the “future tournament” that was supposed to crown new champions never happened — not until the current women’s tag team tournament.
Talent seemingly get along better with Levesque than McMahon, and that could be all the motivation Banks and Naomi need to make their surprise returns in the near future.
