@Supreme—Well it’s similar to what happened when Austin walked out and how they had themselves a little tantrum about it. Different company now of course but they still made sure to bring in the Rock to bury Steve on live tv. That’s after he was basically the sole reason they “won the war.”

I’m surprised the statement didn’t have something about Sasha and Naomi taking their ball and going home.

Eh, anyways, not a huge fan of Sasha based on what I know about her as a person but I’m all for talents giving the office a headache.

Also, my interpretation of that message is, "we asked them to do the same horrible, rote bullshit we ask them to do every week, and suddenly there's a problem?"

It's a cool story. But it's not like they are gonna be able to just "hope over to Dynamite" in a few weeks if they want.

Even if they could AEW is so packed as is.

Nah. But Sasha DOES have other options because she's been doing the acting and John Favreau is a huge fan. She's not limited to wrestling like the rest of the schmucks. Naomi is also with one of the Usos, so she has leverage just the same. It's not about turning up on Dynamite, it's about saying, "fuck you, we don't need this bullshit. Up your game."

Don't get me wrong, wouldn't fault the WWE for firing them, but they don't have the cajones. They'd prefer to just bury them as much as they can get away with until welcoming them back with open arms.

yeah women and tag team they would have to pop out at impact

I don't know, I love a good walk out story, but it's Sasha Banks and Naomi. I'm sure the company could really give a shit lol

yeah they should have let banks go a few years ago

The women's tag titles are not high profile. They are an afterthought. For reasons you just listed. And sure, you can say well now is your chance to be part of elevating these titles...but by that account, they were planning on making them even more irrelevant, despite Sasha and Naomi bringing up their concerns in a professional manner several times.

So the question is, how much shit are you going to eat, before you say go fuck yourself? And keep in mind this is not a young wrestler who has yet to make it big, where said shit eating is expected. Its two people who have been at the top as champions for years now, and then they're told they're going to essentialy be enhancement talent for the singles champions and then theyre going to disappear for no reason.

ftr, it was still unprofessional, I'm just saying I get why they felt they needed to walk out.

Pretty much. Giving them the belts, only to have them plugged into separate feuds, doesn’t elevate the tag belts. They’re being put into a position to join in the main event scene for 2 months only to come back later and try to pretend their tag belts are still worth something, allegedly. That’s chicken shit and it’s a complaint other talents have had.

I don’t blame them. They’re standing up for themselves, they’re demanding what they’re being booked in stories that make the titles matter. And it’s Sasha going thru more booking issues around the tag titles as she was unhappy when her abs Bailey dropped them to a comedy team after working hard to get the titles over.

Unprofessional or not, I don’t see why anyone would back wwe here. More wrestlers should say something instead of taking shitty gimmicks and angles. It would help the product.

I’m pretty sure they want Naomi to be a babyface role-model. I’m a shitty world where kayfabe is dead, she can be inspirational as a heel, but eh. I don’t know how captivating her performances as a heel would be either. Then you’ve got to dedicate a certain amount of time to that specific part of the Bloodline angle, which could drag it down.

Their statement completely shatters kayfabe and really has tones of “ungrateful little marks for themselves.” It did give me pause that apparently Russo was sniffing around for a job and then this happens, because this is exactly the sort of shit he would try to pull in fiction — but I think the most likely explanation is simply that it’s a hot-headed response to bury the women’s disposition of “this is about respect” before the company decides to bury them.

The thought occurred to me that WWE could just come out and deny those belts ever existed, lol. How’s that for putting respect onto them? But I don’t know where this idea that Vince isn’t keen on women’s wrestling comes from. I mean, sure — modern society ties his hands a little bit, but he’s pushed the women hard even when he hasn’t “had to.”

I also think the tag team thing is a myth that is perpetuated by internet lore. There’s probably validity to the claim that he sees more star value in individuals when they are truly over, and that makes sense. But it’s blown way out of proportion when you consider the function tag team wrestling plays and how some of the biggest acts he’s had over the past 6 years have been tag teams.

I think this is what rubs me the wrong way about it if it is a shoot. I can totally imagine Sasha overrating her star power and Naomi thinking she can pull whatever because she married in. There’s still undercurrent of “we’re so important” when they’re realistically not, lol.

You’re making valid points, but it all carries a tone of being a bit of mark for yourself and the belts. It’s such an internet smark thing to do to count up the number of tag teams and try to work out the average amount of ring time and Dave Meltzer stars associated with a division to determine its worth.

I was a critic of the tag belts in the first place, but the reason they are there is for the optics of equality and as a functional tool to throw a bouy to four or more women that aren’t involved in the big singles matches on that side of things. They’re busy pushing Bianca, Becky, Charlotte and Ronda? Throw the tag belts on Sasha & Naomi for a few months. Then they can split and go for the singles belts when there’s an opening. That’s literally what they’re there for, and the whole “well, we don’t have feuds and a plethora of future challengers” reeks of “bitches, it’s fucking fake and know the spot you’re in it.”

The belts have been around for a number of years now. They do what they want them to do just fine. Sometimes they are on an act they want to keep together, sometimes they go to women that are using it as a pit stop. If they want to push a team for an extended period, that opportunity will be there for them. If they never find that team? Who fucking cares? Throwing your second hissy fit (in Sasha’s case) kind of just makes you look like a mark who thinks you need to have 8 teams in a tag division that all dress like their partners to have a successful one.

As a fan of wrestling, I agree with you. I wish every wrestling company would make every single championship title and the feuds and wrestlers highlighting them seem important.

As a realist though in 2022, I don't think the WWE (i.e. Vince) really cares about secondary things like belts and storylines anymore. He knows the same people will watch no matter what's on tv these days. Maybe with the exception of Brock, I'd argue there's not one "entertainer" that's over anymore. And I don't even think Brock is as valuable as he was. WWE could just plug anyone in and get the same or even an increase in revenue in their product. They seem to be breaking records every year. And that's exactly what they want. They don't want guys like Rock or Austin (i.e. a few people carrying the load).

So that's my point on them caring less if Sasha or Naomi walked out. they'll just plug in two other people to fill that role and it'll be business as usual

It's terrible for wrestlers, but great for the company

After all these years, Sasha Banks finally had the balls to do it.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gj2iGAifSNI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I mean, it started off hot, with her and Bayley as The Boss and Hug Connection becoming the inaugural champions of the current version. But because Vince says we're not allowed to have nice things anymore, instead of having them retain at WrestleMania 35, as they should have, nope they had them drop the belts to The Iiconics. That was when I stopped caring about the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.

(’Taker voice) YOU THINK THIS IS FAKE?!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sasha Banks tried to warn us all. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWERaw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWERaw</a> <a href="https://t.co/es3vgeyayz">pic.twitter.com/es3vgeyayz</a></p>&mdash; ChanMan (@ChandranTheMan) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChandranTheMan/status/1526423256927940608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Naomi's husband is a black woman?

Also, WWE didn't release that kind of statement when Jeff walked out or her husband got another DUI
It's a really strange press release

Rumor going around is Molly Holly was one of the producers Sasha got in an argument with

they look like trannies

Even when Austin walked out, they didn't instantly put out a statement. They didn't call him out on the same episode. It just seems if it were real WWE wouldnt have reported it so quickly.

Nah, they just fired Jeff on the spot and told everyones its because he wouldn't go to rehab, knowing the implication is that this means he's on drugs again. Let me know when someone else has to do the whole piss test angle. They shat all over Jeff. For YEARS.

And Jeff walked out of a house show, not the main event of RAW.

I agree it's a strange release, but basically claiming this is racism/sexism is a hell of a reach at this point with what is actually known, which is basically next to nothing.

This is gonna end with something stupid where they "walked out on RAW" and show up on SD instead.

...But I didn't claim that

I said it was bad optics because it will be perceived as that, and I can tell you plenty of people on twitter have already viewed the situation that way

They did the same segment with Shawn Michaels, almost word for word :rofl:

Meltzer weighs in:

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:lol:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This would never happen in aew? The Vp basically walked out lol ��</p>&mdash; Jennifer P (@JP121469) <a href="https://twitter.com/JP121469/status/1526638435871731713?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Their hottest story is about whether or not their rising star is going to leave when his deal is up to go to greener pastures…

Of course DBag Phil would try to virtue stan about this on Twitter and act tough to Matt Cardona since Phil doesn't have to worry about running into the Broski at AEW and taking another L in a real fight.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">If you’d go back in time to stand up for yourself, you should stand up the workers now. <a href="https://t.co/Hh0zA7nsid">https://t.co/Hh0zA7nsid</a></p>&mdash; player/coach (@CMPunk) <a href="https://twitter.com/CMPunk/status/1526605270616625154?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Didn’t Cody stay and make a couple appearances AFTER his contract was up? How was that “walking out”? Lol

Is that cumdorx’s handle?

You see, the problem here is logic is being applied and there’s no place for that

Yeah, im on Twitter like the Padres are World Series Champions :rofl:

you missunderstand. i didnt claim the tag belts were high profile i claimed a singles fued with rousey was. fuck the tag belts. theyre arent half enough women to have that token title. they came back offered sasha the highest profile program they have. and she walked.

should be noted that austin views this as a mistake in hindsight

Walking out was a mistake, but he was 100% correct, you dont waste Austin vs Lesnar unannounced on free tv. I still have no idea what they were thinking with that one.

that sounds like a really exciting episode to me. its good every few years to do something major on free tv.

Imagine rebranding Alexa Bliss but still wanting to make money from the merchant of her last gimmick, so you send her out with new music, old Alexa look, but MAKE HER CARRY HER MERCH DOLL!!

This is today's WWE.

good for bliss. she stands to make more off that doll than her salary if she's over enough

So its subjective