10 Weirdest Ways Wrestlers Got Their Gimmicks
9. Sasha Banks
While nepotism is a hot button topic in pro-wrestling discourse, for every David Flair, there's a Charlotte, whose fellow Horsewoman Sasha Banks successfully managed to use family ties to create her sports entertainment gimmick. Her first cousin is the green-fingered, meme-able rapper Snoop Dogg.
Though Snoop wasn’t around much during her childhood, due to his intense touring schedule, he managed to score his cousin tickets to WrestleMania XXIV, where he was performing Master of Ceremony duties for the Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjill match. Banks recalled sharing her wrestling dreams with Snoop who told her; “if this is your dream then go get it.”
The two grew closer as Banks entered adulthood, and she cites him as someone she aspires to be like. His most significant contribution is as the spark that spawned Banks’ ‘The Boss’ gimmick. Banks elaborated:
“[…] people call him the boss, so, that’s where I got that nickname from. I always felt like I was the best female wrestler in the company, but I just didn’t know how to show it, because I was so nervous, shy, and afraid to even be in front of the camera. Then one day I said no. If you want to be the best, then you better tell everyone you’re the best? and be larger than life.”
Banks wasn’t the first wrestler to be influenced by hip-hop culture, but she certainly has the best credentials.