WWE: You can start calling Sasha Banks ‘The Draw’ now

Sasha Banks moves the meter, and WWE knows it.

On the first night of WWE NXT Great American Bash, Sasha Banks and Io Shirai put on an incredible main event match that more than lived up to the hype. They told a wonderful story, produced hard-hitting moves with terrifying accuracy, and showed the technical prowess that has led them to be recognized as two of the absolute best wrestlers on this planet.

The ratings reflected their brilliance as well. Fans tuned in specifically to watch this match. NXT led AEW in the ratings between the head-to-head TV specials, and fans pointed out that Banks vs. Shirai as a non-title match led to higher ratings than Charlotte Flair vs. Shirai for the title. NXT ended up with 792,000 viewers, while AEW had 748,000 viewers this Wednesday.

But it was even more impressive to see how well Banks vs. Shirai did, specifically. It garnered 900,000 viewers, which is astounding, especially when you compare it to the views that AEW Fyter Fest’s main event received. There was a gap of more than 250,000 viewers.

So what nickname is Sasha Banks running with now after giving the brand she became a star at such a dominant boost in the ratings?

Well, “The Draw”, naturally.

The nickname suits her much better than Sami Callihan, who came up with an awful “hacker” gimmick in NXT that was way less appropriate than the one currently (???) run on SmackDown and hasn’t actually drawn a thing.

Meanwhile, WWE knows that Sasha can bring in viewers. She’s one of the most popular wrestlers in the company in terms of merch sales and social media mentions, with a legion of fans who are just waiting for her to have a real run at the top with a world title. And that should happen soon enough with the SmackDown Women’s Championship.

Until then, she and Bayley are carrying the Women’s Tag Titles across all three brands, and when Sasha gets a chance to have a big-ticket match, she brings an audience while delivering in front of all of them. “The Draw” is operating at the highest level right now.