Sasha Banks Challenges Asuka for the Raw Women’s Championship at Extreme Rules

Sasha Banks and Bayley successfully retained the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships on this week’s Monday Night Raw when Banks forced Peyton Royce of The IIconics to tap out via the Bank Statement. After the match Banks grabbed a microphone and said she wanted to hold two championships just like Bayley, and seemed to tease finally challenging her best friend for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. But it turned out to be a swerve, as she instead announced she wanted to face Raw Women’s Champion Asuka at Extreme Rules.

“The Empress” hit the ring and accepted, only for Banks and Bayley to team up and attack her.

Earlier in the night Nia Jax attacked Charlotte Flair, injuring her shoulder before the planned Raw Women’s Championship match between Asuka and “The Queen.” The champ wound up using that to her advantage, countering a sit-out powerbomb by locking in the Asuka Lock and cranking Flair’s injured shoulder, forcing her to tap out. Jax attacked Flair shortly afterwards backstage, indicating the two would be feuding going forward. This gave Banks the opening to jump to the front of the line for a title shot.

Here’s the card for Extreme Rules (scheduled for July 19) so far:

• WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler
• Raw Women’s Championship: Asuka vs. Sasha Banks

Banks found herself in the headlines on Monday after an 2016 interview involving Sammy Guevara resurfaced, in which the AEW star joked that he wanted to “rape” her while working as an extra in WWE back in 2016. Both Banks and Guevara released statements throughout the afternoon, followed by AEW’s announcement that Guevara had been suspended without pay indefinitely.

“Earlier I spoke with Sammy, he apologized and we had an open discussion,” Banks wrote, signing the letter with her real name. “Words like the comments he made, jokingly or not, have absolutely no place in our society! I don’t condone or tolerate this kind of behavior. What one thinks is just a side comment can have a massive impact on someone else’s life, and can send the wrong message. We have to hold ourselves accountable for our actions and the words we say, and I hope this situation shows him that. I hope from this point on, in order for growth and change within our community to take place, we all can continue to have these conversations. No person, man, woman or child, should ever be subjected to a feeling of fear, or any unsafe environment. We all have to do better not just for ourselves, but for generations to come.”