New Details On Sasha Banks Missing WWE SummerSlam 2021

An update on Sasha Banks, who was supposed to wrestle Bianca Belair at SummerSlam 2021.

by Andy H Murray
Sasha Banks
WWE

Sasha Banks missed WWE SummerSlam 2021 this past weekend, with the company announcing that the would-be SmackDown Women's Title challenger hadn't been cleared to compete as her opponent, Bianca Belair, was standing in the ring.

It turns out that this was an accurate reflection of the real-life situation. Fightful Select report that Banks wasn't cleared, though WWE hope that she'll be back in action before long.

Elsewhere, PWInsider's Mike Johnson has been told that this isn't an injury situation. There's currently no word on why, exactly, Banks missed the pay-per-view.

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Carmella showed up to take Sasha's spot in Banks' absence, though she was quickly flattened by the returning Becky Lynch, who challenged Belair on her first night back in WWE since May 2020. Lynch then squashed Bianca, defeating the SmackDown Women's Champion to take the belt in under 30 seconds.

Banks' absence was speculated prior to the pay-per-view itself. The former champion was pulled from two house shows due to "unforeseen circumstances" the weekend before SummerSlam. Belair was in the same boat, but returned to SmackDown on 20 August, while Banks did not.

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While WWE knew that Sasha wouldn't be on the PPV eight days in advance, they chose to advertise the Belair match up until bell-time regardless.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.