WWE Knew About Sasha Banks' SummerSlam 2021 Absence 8 Days Ago!

Because 'card subject to change', pal.

by Andrew Pollard
Sasha Banks
WWE.com

While many of us were hugely looking forward to Sasha Banks challenging WWE SmackDown Women's Champion Bianca Belair last night in a WrestleMania 37 rematch, that obviously didn't come to pass.

As the E.S.T. stood waiting in the ring, it was announced that Banks would not be in action, with Carmella initially revealed as Sasha's announcement, before Becky Lynch then made her shocking return and squashed Belair in a matter of seconds.

According to Dave Meltzer on today's Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE reportedly knew about Banks' SummerSlam absence eight days ago.

Advertisement

Of course, WWE so often has the 'card subject to change' line in their back pockets, but if Meltzer is correct then it's hugely disappointing to see WWE heavily advertising Belair vs. Banks across the past eight days - not least through the SummerSlam pre-show and then during the PPV itself.

Meltzer also adds that Becky Lynch was brought back to in-ring action sooner than originally intended, and he's not sure whether WWE possibly thought that Lynch wasn't ready for a full match at this stage... which would partly explain why her 'match' against Belair was so ridiculously brief.

Advertisement

There's no word as of yet on why Sasha Banks missed SummerSlam, although she had previously missed two live events and Friday's SmackDown in the lead-in to WWE's annual August spectacular.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.