Backstage details regarding Sasha Banks and Naomi’s creative issues with WWE

As previously reported, women’s tag team champions Sasha Banks and Naomi reportedly walked out of WWE RAW due to creative issues with Vince McMahon. A company statement was issued on WWE.com that claimed Sasha and Naomi “were uncomfortable in the ring with two of their opponents” for the scheduled six-pack challenge match.

Fightful Select provided some additional details on Sasha and Naomi’s issues. It was noted that “the talent themselves hadn’t heard that Sasha and Naomi considered anyone ‘unsafe’ until the statement was released.” Fightful was told that Sasha and Naomi’s issues were mainly concerns about the direction of their tag team and the women’s division as a whole.

According to Fightful, the working plan for the six-pack challenge was for Naomi to pin Nikki ASH and not Sasha as speculated. The site wrote that “those that we spoke to that worked on the match indicated that the match was to be constructed to not have Naomi interact with Sasha Banks or Doudrop coming in contact with Nikki in the match itself.”

Sasha and Naomi reportedly made a pitch to work a match with Nikki and Doudrop at the Hell in a Cell PLE but it was turned down as WWE wanted to Naomi to face Bianca Belair for the women’s title at the event. There was also said to have been a pitch for Nikki and Doudrop to interfere in the HIAC title match but that was turned down as well.