Beating Charlotte ‘biggest honor’ for Sasha Banks

Dreams really do come true, and WWE Women’s Champion Sasha Banks could proudly say that hers did.

“It’s been a dream since I was a little girl,” she told INQUIRER in an exclusive interview. “I wanted to change the division. I didn’t want to be in the WWE and be a Diva and play second fiddle to the guys. I wanted to stand out and be the best, have people turn in to see what Sasha Banks can do and hopefully, people are excited to see women’s wrestling coming from NXT, where we really out a platform in what women can do and see that we can do it better than the guys.”

The Boston native has gone a long way since she first started watching pro wrestling. And the one who she considers as her biggest inspiration? None other than the late great Eddie Guerrero.

“He was first ever guy I saw in TV when I watch wrestling and I instantly became hooked and I had to watch WWE every single week after that. He inspired me to want become the best, but I wanted to be more than just I wanted to be and I can and show that dreams can come true. You have to put hardwork in everything you do and I hope I’m proving it today that I want to be the greatest and the best of all time, to make a name and make Eddie Guerrero proud,” she said.

Banks can draw a lot of similarities to the Hall of Famer. Small in stature, both have busted the usual conventions of a superstar and shone over fancied counterparts. Guerrero shockingly won the WWE Championship in 2004 when he beat Brock Lesnar, while Banks bested fierce rival Charlotte to win the crown in the first post-brand split Raw last July.

The 24-year-old shared that the feeling of winning the biggest prize for women’s wrestlers is just incomparable.

“It was the biggest honor. I couldn’t believe it. I was in shock. I knew that if I’m given the opportunity to go one-on-one match with Charlotte, I’ll win but I can’t tell you what I was going to expect and you never know what’s going to happen,” she said. “I’m just waiting for that bell to happen and they announce me as the winner, and all of this emotions were poured out, my heart floated like a butterfly. Having all of those fans say, ‘You deserve it,’ and them being on their feet, it was just overwhelming.”

Though Banks was frank to admit that she would’ve wanted her coronation to have happened at WrestleMania 32 in Dallas, where Charlotte got the better of her and Becky Lynch for the Women’s title, it was still a surreal moment for her to have that moment in Pittsburgh.

“I really wanted it to happen in WrestleMania, but stuff like that, winning it on Raw, that was really incredible. You can’t really decide how things are going to happen, but when it does, there’s just special moments when you see and hear the fans, it makes everything you do worth it,” he said.

But if there’s something Banks has seen through her young career, it is that nothing comes easy.

Regarded as one of the bluechip callups from NXT in the summer of 2015, the infusion of the young women to the main roster in what was called the “Divas’ Revolution” didn’t really pan out the way Banks and her colleagues envisioned it.

“To bring it here on Raw, it was a struggle. The Divas Revolution didn’t get started the way we wanted, but in time, we got to where we wanted to be,” she said.

In time, though, the upstarts finally got their footing and the ultimate prize for that is the triple threat match which got a share of the main event billing in Dallas for this year’s WrestleMania. “I was really scared when I got the call. I thought what’s going to happen? Is there going to be change? We became something that we wanted to do where we got that match at WrestleMania with Charlotte and Becky.”
Banks, however, shared that she still feels incomplete with fellow “Four Horsewomen” member Bayley still in NXT.

“All we’re missing is Bayley and when she gets here, we will be complete with all four of us here. We’re here to change the game together. I wouldn’t be able to do it without them, without Bayley cause she inspired me everyday to be the best, to be better because I think she’s really incredible,” she said. “I love her so much, but there’s competition between me and her because I love watching her. I look forward to our future, I look forward to going to the Hall of Fame with them, and to see what we can keep doing and help women be inspired to get to the WWE.”

Bayley had such a huge impact on Banks’ career that they even teamed up at Battleground to face Charlotte and Dana Brooke last month.

But that was not Banks’ best memory with Bayley, but rather, their epic main event encounter at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn in August 2015 where she lost the NXT Women’s Championship.

“There’s nothing to describe the feeling of that match, going to that match, and leaving that match. We had so many emotions. I’ve had matches with Charlotte and Becky at NXT and TakeOver, but the one with Bayley, it brought my heart to the heavens. We got the world talking about the match. It made me feel like this is everything I ever wanted, I thought and felt complete after that match, I can retire and be so happy in my life,” she said.

Banks, though, wishes it won’t be the last and is hoping that she and Bayley would have a chance to do that again at the Grandest Stage of Them All.

“When I got my WrestleMania match, it was like I did it. I wish I can get my WrestleMania match with Bayley and I can call it a career,” she said laughing.

Already blazing the trail for future women aspirants, Banks is hopeful that they are just scratching the surface in terms of how huge women’s wrestling can still get in the WWE.

“Definitely, the brand split is going to give a lot of opportunity to the women who have been working so hard that has been overlooked. People like Naomi who had been here for eight years but has been clawing for her opportunity. Looking back with her in Team BAD, I know how bad she wants it but it’s still not in the right moment. People like Natalya are amazing. I wish I could have a match with her one-on-one, an opportunity with her, but she is incredible and a role model for women. Carmella, who I’ve seen work so hard in NXT in trying to make a name for herself. So given the opportunity in SmackDown to show that she is absolutely fabulous in every sense is going to be awesome. To the women of Raw, where we have Charlotte and newcomers like Nia Jax, who is definitely a different kind of breed of women for our division. For NXT too as well, I think Billie Kay and Peyton Royce are two women to watch. I’ve been in the ring with both of them and I think they have something special. Asuka is another amazing talent,” she said.

“Our division is in a good place right now. I definitely think the sky is the limit for the women’s division and it would be one that people will talk about for many years to come,” added Banks. “It’s the new era and I’m the boss and the champion, so it’s great.”