Sasha Banks has been sorely missed from WWE television, but when or if she’s ready to return, here are five fantastic opponents she can put a Match of the Year candidate against.
There are so many wrestlers in WWE whose best career matches have come against Sasha Banks, and one of those big-ticket bouts occurred this year at the Royal Rumble Pay Per View when Ronda Rousey took on “The Legit Boss” in a Raw Women’s Championship match.
Banks took Rousey to the brink, producing a high-energy match filled with emotional submission holds and a gut-wrenching finish.
Banks has taken time off from WWE after WrestleMania 35, and there are so many conflicting reports about the situation.
She’s either rightfully upset with WWE’s booking and the ceiling placed on so many superstars, especially women in the company, or she simply needs some time off after being one of the promotion’s biggest workhorses for years.
Either way, whenever she’s ready to return to the ring, there will be millions of fans waiting to damage their vocal chords as they scream her name.
And when she does return, here are five perfect opponents for “The Legit Boss” to tear down the house with. Because, yes, she’s one of the best to ever do this.
Becky Lynch
WWE fans have been waiting for a main roster classic between Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks for ages.
These are two of the absolute biggest stars in professional wrestling over the last five years, and it’s been more than four years since the two had a big-time match against each other.
That bout came in May 2015 at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable when Becky had her breakout performance against one of the most decorated NXT Women’s Champions in history.
This match had it all and was a technical masterpiece, so imagine what Becky and Sasha would be capable of in 2019 now that they are even bigger stars.
Becky is currently the Raw Women’s Champion, which is a title Sasha helped make prestigious in the early going with her memorable Summer and Fall 2016 rivalry with Charlotte Flair.
Banks and Bayley have legions of diehard fans with plenty of overlap between both fanbases, which would make a back-and-forth title match between the two even more must-see than their acclaimed TakeOver bout.
And if you have time, go back and watch their match from four years ago. Even if you’ve watched it before, watch it again. Like, seriously, it holds up that well.
Also, if you want to watch their most recent singles match in March 2016, check out the video above. It has three million videos on YouTube.
Bayley
The SmackDown Women’s Champion heading into Extreme Rules, Bayley has been Sasha Banks’s closest friend on the WWE main roster since she debuted on Raw in 2016 at the last brand split. Bayley and Banks won the Women’s Tag Team Championships together inside of the Elimination Chamber earlier this year, becoming the first tag team to win the new titles.
Their quick loss at WrestleMania 35 may have been the reason for Banks’s recent hiatus from WWE, which definitely plays into the story of this match.
There should be no bad blood between Banks and Bayley if they have a match for the title. No, this should be Banks immediately trying to go after a championship and wanting to face the person she believes is the best.
Since Bayley and Banks have been through so many wars together or side-by-side on the main roster and in NXT, it would only make sense for Banks to view Bayley as the best on the roster.
It would make more sense for Banks to lose this hypothetical match. Yes, it would be her first match back, but that’s precisely why losing a big, possible title, match makes sense.
Banks rightfully thinks highly of herself as a decorated champion in WWE and would want to immediately face a champion, but she would be rusty as a kayfabe in-ring competitor.
Facing the best at less than 100% would yield less than optimal results for Banks, and it would force her to take a deep breath and go back to the drawing board while working herself back up to another championship run in WWE.
And wrestling fans have been waiting for another Bayley vs. Banks title match at a big Pay Per View. This is one of wrestling’s enduring feuds in the modern age, so any chance to dream about a match between these two women is a chance I’ll gladly take.
Nikki Cross
WWE fans have never seen Sasha Banks and Nikki Cross face off against each other in the ring, and there’s little doubt that Nikki’s recent success on the WWE main roster makes her an even more intriguing opponent for a wrestler of Banks’s caliber.
As Alexa Bliss’s new best friend, Cross has immediately flourished post-WrestleMania 35. She is one of WWE’s biggest breakout stars and has been arguably the most successful NXT call-up, though United States Champion, workhorse, and elite high-flier Ricochet would probably have something to say about that.
Cross has always been stellar in the ring, with her Last Woman Standing match against Asuka in NXT essentially being synonymous with her name.
A match against a fired-up Banks could be jut as memorable, especially if the two are given a good 15-20 minutes to produce a fast-paced, high-risk encounter.
Of course, Cross’s biggest main roster impact has been her character work, which is somehow even better than what she produced in NXT. Cross has been more subdued as Bliss’s tag team partner, but, underneath, she’s still the same woman who gladly embraced the chaos as Sanity’s biggest star with the Black and Yellow brand.
Naomi
Naomi and Sasha Banks haven’t faced off since 2016 when Team B.A.D. was a thing, and, in some ways, those were the good old days.
They actually weren’t, but Team B.A.D. was a fun faction that gave us some memorable moments and could have been a much bigger deal if WWE truly saw their potential.
Anyway, Naomi and Sasha are in need of a match at some point in the near future, because they are two of the most brilliant minds on the WWE main roster.
The elegance of Naomi’s spots never cease to amaze me, and it seems like she adds a new move to her repertoire every month.
Remember that submission she used to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship in her hometown of Orlando at WrestleMania 33? Yeah, I want to see counters on counters of that against Sasha Banks’s venerable “Bank Statement”.
Naomi is a two-time SmackDown Women’s Champion and a main event player in WWE when looking at her body of work. Despite being a veteran of the wrestling business, she is constantly improving as a character and in-ring performer, which means she is currently at the peak of her abilities.
We need to see a feud with Banks, whose creativity and in-ring awareness can match Naomi’s. I think many fans would be blown away by how good this match would be, and these two women certainly know how to set up a thrilling finish.
Shayna Baszler
Despite all of the predictions against her, Shayna Baszler has still managed to remain the NXT Women’s Champion in her second reign.
She is the only wrestler to hold the title twice, surviving multiple attempts from Bianca Belair, who, admittedly, should be the champion.
But in any case, Baszler is also deserving of being the champion by the sheer fact that she is amazing. Just look at how high her match quality is, courtesy of Chris Novak’s ratings. Baslzer always delivers, especially in the big matches at TakeOver.
She entered WWE with experience on the indies, and was a standout as a Mae Young Classic finalists, but she’s still improved by leaps and bounds.
Few in WWE are as good at cutting heel promos and few in WWE are as devastating in the ring. The battle of wits and submission holds between Banks and Baszler would be insane, only surpassed by the selling.
See, Baszler would put on a clinic in the subdued selling typical of former MMA fighters, while Banks would play the Kairi Sane or Ember Moon role as the pulling-out-your-hair-for-the-babyface seller.
There’s no doubt that Banks vs. Rousey was a stellar match, but Baszler vs. Banks could be an instant classic.
Though Baszler remains NXT Women’s Champion and in NXT, there’s a real possibility she could be called up at any given moment, meaning she could be on the main roster whenever Banks is ready to return to WWE. And that could be awesome for wrestling fans.