Sasha Banks

Women's Royal Rumble winner Bianca Belair announced Friday she will challenge Sasha Banks for the SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania 37.

Belair has been a star on the rise in recent months, but she reached new heights in January when she won the 2021 women's Rumble from the No. 3 spot and earned the right to challenge a champion of her choosing at WrestleMania.

As soon as Belair won the Rumble, there was a palpable feeling of excitement within the WWE Universe regarding a potential WrestleMania clash with Banks.

It wasn't long after Belair's big win that she and Banks began interacting on a weekly basis. Their friendly rivalry even manifested itself into a mini-feud with WWE women's tag team champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler.

That led to a tag title match at Elimination Chamber, but Belair and Banks were beaten when Reginald distracted The Boss by trying to get her to illegally use a bottle during the bout.

One thing that match accomplished was showing that Belair and Banks had some chemistry as a team, meaning it was likely they would have chemistry as opponents as well.

While there is no real hatred between Bianca and Sasha, there is still intrigue surrounding their rivalry and upcoming match since they are both obsessed with proving they are the best women's wrestler in WWE.

Belair calls herself "The EST" since she is the fastest, strongest, toughest, etc. that WWE has to offer, but Banks has maintained that Bianca can't stake claim to being the best since Sasha is the one who holds the SmackDown Women's Championship.

Banks has established herself as not only one of the elite women's wrestlers in the world today but of all time. In order for Belair to reach that level, winning a title and performing at a high level on the biggest stage in wrestling is a must.

Belair vs. Banks is a match that could potentially headline one of the two nights of WrestleMania 37, making it a virtual no-brainer for WWE to book.

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During an appearance on Broken Skull Sessions with WWE Hall of Famer "Stone Cold" Steve Austin on Sunday, SmackDown Women's champion Sasha Banks expressed no shortage of self-confidence. 

At the 1:25:30 mark of the interview on WWE Network, The Boss discussed her standing in WWE and her passion for the professional wrestling business.

Banks said she went from being a superfan to a businesswoman and added: "If I see myself where I wanna see myself, I'm at [WWE Chairman] Vince McMahon's level, and that's just that."

Sasha also said she has aspirations of being a WWE shareholder and remaining part of the company even after she is done wrestling by passing on knowledge to the next generation.

For now, Banks is arguably the biggest female star WWE has, and she is in the midst of the best run of her career.

In addition to being the reigning SmackDown Women's champion, Sasha is a former NXT Women's champion, five-time Raw Women's champion and two-time WWE Women's Tag Team champion.

She is involved in a friendly rivalry with 2021 women's Royal Rumble winner Bianca Belair, and all signs point to them facing off at WrestleMania 37 in April.

If that match happens, there is a strong chance it could headline one of the two nights of WrestleMania 37, which would make it only the second women's match to ever serve as a WrestleMania main event.

Along with her success within WWE, Sasha appeared on the latest season on The Mandalorian on Disney+ as Koska Reeves, which went a long way toward giving her mainstream appeal as well.

Sasha's career is reaching new heights, her confidence is at an all-time high and there is seemingly no limit to what she can achieve both inside and outside the wrestling business.

Banks has made a habit of thanking McMahon on Twitter almost daily in recent months, but if she keeps performing at her current level, it may be McMahon who is giving thanks instead.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE universe. 

Vince McMahon Denied Sasha Banks Her Release Request

In 2019, Sasha Banks wanted to leave WWE. Her frustrations with creative were long thought to be the biggest factor in her requesting her release, but Banks revealed in a recent appearance on the Broken Skull Sessions that the biggest motivating factor in her wanting to step away was a bout with depression.

"Depression was taking over. My mind was taking over. My thoughts were taking over. This place was being bigger than me. And I really, really lost myself because for a good seven years, I didn't even hear my real name. I didn't hear Mercedes anymore. All I heard was Sasha Banks, and traveling on the road, we only get one to two days off.

"So, I'm home, not even seeing what my real hair looks like. All I see is purple hair every single day. There were just so many things that were just—I let it control me...I couldn't even look at myself. I didn't even know who the hell I was. How I was going into work, how angry I was going in, how sad I was. I was not the person that I dreamt to be."

Banks said she went into Vince McMahon's office and formally requested to leave the company, but the WWE chairman would not let her out of her contract.

"I asked to leave and Vince was like, 'no,'" Banks said. "He said no. He said I'm gonna give you 30 days to think about it. And I took more than 30 days."

Banks was off television for four months before returning to the company, and she hasn't looked back. Her run since returning has been wildly impressive, winning the women's tag team championship with Bayley and then the SmackDown women's title after the team broke up.

Her current run as SmackDown women's champion is the longest she's been a titleholder since joining the so-called main roster.

Miz Trolls Critics

While the overwhelming sentiment appeared to be positive about The Miz cashing in his Money in the Bank contract and beating Drew McIntyre at Sunday's Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Miz still has his fair share of critics who have never quite bought into the gimmick.

Miz, in typical fashion, does not care at all about their feelings.

The new champion cut an impassioned promo that was posted on WWE's YouTube page following the win.

"I could care less if everybody's on the internet going, 'No, Miz doesn't deserve it, oh Miz shouldn't be WWE champion.' Cry, go ahead and cry, and keep on doing it because that is the fuel that lights my fire. I am your WWE Champion, whether you like it or not.

"Ten years ago we had an Angry Miz Girl and I hope, and I pray, that their are thousands upon thousands, millions of Angry Miz Girls right here, right now, sobbing, weeping, wishing that Drew McIntyre was still their WWE Champion. He is not, I am. So this is me saying I am now content being awesome. See you at WrestleMania, or at Monday Night Raw, whichever I feel like because I am champion and I do whatever the hell I want."

While Miz's momentum had largely been halted over the last year or so, his run from 2016 through most of 2019 was perhaps the best work of his career. WWE's timing could use some work, but Miz deserved at least one more title run to cap off a no-doubt Hall of Fame career.

At age 40, the time was now to give him a run—even if it'll likely end between now and WrestleMania to set up a Drew McIntyre-Bobby Lashley showdown. 

Cesaro Posts Disappointment After Losing Chamber

Cesaro was seemingly the fan favorite to win the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match, with fans gravitating toward him during a recent hot streak. Daniel Bryan ultimately wound up winning the match, only to get immediately squashed by Roman Reigns, so not much was ultimately lost for Cesaro in the defeat.

That said, Cesaro seemed to be taking the loss hard based on his Twitter post Sunday night.

Cesaro remains one of WWE's most underutilized talents; he has every bit of the in-ring skill and charisma necessary to be a world champion, but WWE has never felt comfortable putting him in the top spot.

Hopefully he'll eventually get the long-term spotlight he deserves and can someday stop being atop the shortlist of guys we wish would get a run.  

Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler beat SmackDown women's champion Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair at Elimination Chamber on Sunday to retain the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships.

Carmella's sommelier, Reginald, attempted to help Banks by coming to the ring and putting a bottle of champagne in her hands to use against Jax. But The Boss made it clear she wasn't going to use the foreign object, which caused her to lose focus.

That allowed Jax to recover and eventually hit a Samoan Drop on Banks for the win.

Jax and Baszler have largely been the dominant force in the women's tag team division for the past six months or so, having enjoyed two reigns as champions, but an unlikely duo stepped up to challenge them.

Banks and Belair have been interacting quite often since The EST of WWE won the women's Royal Rumble match last month and earned the right to challenge for either the SmackDown or Raw women's title at WrestleMania 37.

During a recent promo involving Banks and Belair, Jax and Baszler interrupted. The two potential championship rivals seemed to get on the same page in terms of insulting their rivals, which set the stage for a potential match between them.

On the go-home episode of SmackDown prior to Elimination Chamber, Banks and Belair interrupted an edition of Bayley's "Ding Dong, Hello" talk show featuring Jax and Baszler. Reginald also showed up and backed Banks and Belair.

That led to a six-person tag team match with The Boss, The EST and Reginald beating Jax, Baszler and Bayley.

Two rivals teaming up is nothing new in WWE, especially leading up to a big match at WrestleMania. It worked especially well for Banks and Belair since they have mutual respect and a friendly connection rather than any real hatred for each other.

Even so, Sunday's match created an intriguing scenario since the friendly rivalry between the two had the potential to turn into something far more sinister.

It was unclear how well Banks and Belair would work together, especially against a firmly established team such as Jax and Baszler.

Their lack of experience as a team and their respective desire to prove they are the best women's wrestler in WWE held them back Sunday and likely solidified their SmackDown Women's Championship match for WrestleMania on April 10-11.

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