Sasha Banks Confirms She's Been Out Of Action With Ankle Injury
Sasha Banks has been out of action since early January after being taken out by Lacey Evans before Evans' title match against Bayley for the Smackdown Women's Championship at the Royal Rumble. Her last match was on SmackDown on January 3rd. Banks appeared on the latest episode of Corey Graves' WWE After The Bell podcast and revealed that she has been dealing with an ankle injury, while also staying in character.
"If you guys watched Friday night Smackdown a couple of weeks ago, the evil un-role model, terrible mother Lacey Evans tripped me backstage, and she hurt my ankle.
"I can barely walk ok. It's terrible. I'm a person that always wants to be 125 percent, and right now, I'm just at 100 percent. You guys just have to wait," Banks said. "It's unacceptable. I'm at 100 percent. I need to be at 120 percent. I'm taking my time so that I can be bigger and better than ever."
It was reported that Banks' scheduled spot in the women's Royal Rumble went to Kelly Kelly. While Banks did not appear at the Royal Rumble, she said, while in character, that she hopes to make an appearance at WrestleMania, preferably on the pre-show to get her day done with quickly. She talked about wanting to wear a "bomb outfit" next to her friend Bayley as she defends her title against "some loser". Banks also gave an in-character answer in regards to her absence from the Royal Rumble.
"Honestly, I wasn't supposed to be in it anyway because I'm a leader. I want to give girls other opportunities. I didn't want to win that match because I didn't want to choose my best friend nor did I want to choose Becky Lynch because I don't want to go to RAW," Banks said. "So I wasn't going to be in the Royal Rumble regardless, and Bayley asked me to not come out for the match because she wanted to show people that she didn't need my help. So I respect her.
"We are role models and leaders for a reason, and another girl had an opportunity because I wasn't in it. So it's so great to see. I'm so blessed. I'm so awesome. I'm amazing."
Graves also spoke to Banks about her Super Bowl spot with Pizza Hut and other topics. You can listen to the full podcast by clicking here. If you use any quotes in this article, please credit WWE's After The Bell with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.