Sasha Banks Officially Wins the Raw Women’s Championship on WWE Raw

Sasha Banks officially became the Raw Women’s Champion on this week’s Monday Night Raw, defeating Asuka thanks to some backstage inference by Bayley. The match started with Kairi Sane chasing Bayley to the backstage area to stop her from interfering, but it wound up costing “The Empress” later on. Just as the champ was about to lock in The Asuka Lock, footage from backstage starts airing on the big screen showing Bayley repeatedly driving Sane into a metal garage door.

Sane eventually cried out for Asuka, prompting her to leave the ring and go make the save. Unfortunately due to the rules of the match the title could change hands via count-out. Banks was crowned the new champion even though she was unconscious when the referee made the 10 count.

With the win, Banks is officially a five-time Raw Women’s Champion. She and Bayley now hold ever women’s championship on both Raw and SmackDown.

The controversy surrounding the championship started at The Horror Show at Extreme Rules. Bayley attempted to interfere later in the match, and Asuka wound up blinding the referee with her green mist. “The Role Model” then whacked her in the back with one of the tag titles, ripped off the referee’s shirt, put it on and counted the three. Stephanie McMahon popped up on the following night and stated that Banks was not the new champion, and set up the match for this week. Even though Asuka was still listed as the current champion heading into the show, she was not introduced as the reigning champion.