After being away from WWE since WrestleMania XXXV, Sasha Banks makes a surprise Raw return, turns heel, and beats down Natalya and Becky Lynch. It was clear enough from her years in NXT that Banks was destined to be a huge star on the main roster, and for the most part, that's been the case since her 2015 call-up. She's won the Raw Women's Championship four times, although none of those reigns lasted very long, as she ended up repeatedly trading the title with Charlotte Flair.
Banks has also competed at multiple WrestleMania events, but it was actually the most recent WrestleMania that led to some fans wondering if she was done with WWE. At Elimination Chamber, Banks and Bayley teamed up to become the first ever WWE Women's Tag Team Champions. The duo pledged to defend the titles against all comers on Raw, SmackDown, and NXT, but their reign was cut short by an unexpected loss to the IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce) at WrestleMania in April.
Banks hasn't been seen on WWE programming since dropping the tag team gold, with reports swirling that she had effectively walked out on the company and refused to perform, although WWE was said to be trying to convince her to reconsider. After a months-long absence, it looks like she finally has, assuming those reports about her attitude toward WWE booking were true. On Monday's episode of Raw, Banks made a shocking return, turning to the dark side in the process, and laying out both Natalya and Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch. Check out some gifs and a clip of the carnage below.
For those who didn't tune in, here's a recap of how things went down. First, Natalya, who challenged Lynch at SummerSlam, came out to reveal an arm injury and remember her late father Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart on the one-year anniversary of his death. She was then interrupted by the arrival of Banks, and while "The Boss" at first played nice with Nattie, she quickly revealed her true colors, literally in the case of her new blue hair. Banks' beatdown of Natalya - which somewhat hilariously drew huge cheers from the crowd - was in turn interrupted by Lynch.
Unfortunately for "The Man," Banks quickly got the upper hand on the champ, brutally laying into her with chair shots. It's commendable - if not a bit odd, considering Lynch's sometimes Steve Austin-esque character - for Lynch to try and help out her recent opponent, but the strategy didn't pay off, as both women ended up down and out at the hands of Banks. As Michael Cole often annoyingly yells, it's "Boss" time once again. Now, one assumes Lynch will defend against Banks at WWE's next pay-per-view, Clash of the Champions.