It’s Boss Time! Jordan of The Wrestling Takeover is here with another list for DiscussPW. As this one’s all about showing gratitude and love to, in my opinion one of the greatest women’s wrestlers to ever step foot in WWE. Is it any suprise, it’s a showcase of ”The GOAT to be, The Blueprint, The Standard and The Legit Boss” Sasha Banks?
If you haven’t followed @JTTakeover on Twitter and @thewrestlingtakeover on Instagram for any amount of time, you would know that Sasha Banks is my favorite women’s wrestlers to ever step foot in WWE. I understand that regardless of how popular Sasha Bank with her fanbase, there are still many fans who don’t get the appeal. However, I hope this rankings article will open people’s mind to how good she really is. It’s time for me to rank the best Sasha Banks matches of all time.
1. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley (NXT Takeover Brooklyn 2015)
There’s no question in my mind that no diehard Sasha Banks fan out there would be able to discuss her best matches if you didn’t bring this one up. Honestly, if this match isn’t in your top three when you look back at her best matches in WWE. I’ve seen a ton of women’s matches in WWE in the past and currently, there’s not one match I’ve seen that has been better than this match on this night in 2015 in Brooklyn New York. This crowd from the opening bell was on their feet, the commentators were mainly quiet for the most part because they knew they were witnessing greatness. NXT left Full Sail for the first time for a major venue and sold-out Barclays Center during SummerSlam 2015 weekend, which was insane. The storytelling during this match was beautiful to watch and I’m more about the story than anything and these women delivered from that standpoint. This match changed women’s wrestling and a lot of us after this match started to take women’s wrestling seriously in WWE.
2. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley – Iron Man Match (NXT Takeover Respect 2015)
I mean… What else do I need to say in regards to this match? Did they outperform their previous match in Brooklyn? No. Though they came close, the chemistry between Sasha Banks and Bayley started in NXT with an incredible feud that felt real and that felt organic and not forced which I liked. Sasha Banks competed along with Bayley in the first Iron man match and a documentary of Triple H showed him announcing this match to both ladies and it was heartwarming. The back-and-forth action cultivated an awesome story of Sasha Banks pulling out all the stops to gain the advantage over Bayley, which made her a great heel. Sasha Banks making the little girl Izzy cry is iconic in NXT and will live on forever. In the end, Bayley overcame and got the job done.
3. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch (NXT Takeover Unstoppable 2015)
Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch have great chemistry. This was during the run of Sasha Banks in NXT as a ruthless heel and she played it well during this match. I remember NXT Takeover Unstoppable being the night where Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch stole the show with a must-watch bout from start to finish. We all knew Sasha Banks was going to retain the championship, but this performance was all about Becky Lynch. Management and many fans wanted to see if she was willing to stand toe-to-toe against Sasha Banks and guess what? Becky Lynch passed the test and she’s had awesome matches with Sasha Banks. This was a breakout performance from Becky Lynch…
4. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley (Hell In A Cell 2020)
Sasha Banks and Bayley continue to put out bangers of matches, they never disappoint. Not one of their matches I said to myself ”well… That was underwhelming.” Every one of the matches they delivered, it was always about ”how can we top our previous match?” The biggest match between the two happened inside Hell In A Cell. We went from an Iron Man match to now a Hell In A Cell match. This match was during Bayley’s historic run as SmackDown Women’s Champion as Bayley betrayed her best friend and decided to do anything to keep her championship. This was an awesome Hell In A Cell match and we must call Sasha Banks ”the queen of Hell In A Cell matches.”
5. Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch (WrestleMania 32, 2016)
WrestleMania 32 was for the most part a forgettable WrestleMania. Here’s the thing, the best match on that show was hands down Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch by far. The early stages of the women’s evolution featured a massive triple threat match between three talented individuals in Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 32. This match changed the personalization of ”divas” in ”women superstars.” Now, 98% of the fans wanted Sasha Banks to win but that wasn’t what happened, now just because she didn’t win mean’t I hated the match because I didn’t. All three women showed up and put on a show and the rest is history as they would say.
6. Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair (WrestleMania 37)
This was very speacial to me as an African American fan and many others like me. This felt big, WWE made it such and for that, thank you WWE. No question, this was the biggest accolade of Sasha Banks’ career was taking part in the second women’s match to main event WrestleMania. Bianca Belair just got done winning The Royal Rumble and when she did, I said ”WWE has big plans for her and I can’t wait to see what they are.” Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks match hit home for a lot of people and Sasha Banks did great in putting over Bianca Belair as she became the new SmackDown Women’s Champion.
7. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch (Hell In A Cell 2020)
Sasha Banks returned to WWE after a 4 month lay-off from the company with a new attitude and new hair color and that’s when the nickname the ”blueprint” started. Becky Lynch at the time was going on a surreal run as Raw Women’s Champion and previously, both women competed out Clash of Champions and had a banger. The question is, would they be able to top it? Yes they did. When it comes to Hell In A Cell matches, this one should be considered one of the best. Sasha Banks was a real threat to defeat Becky Lynch but at the end, Becky Lynch retained. Another outstanding performance by both ladies…
8. Sasha Banks vs. Ronda Rousey (Royal Rumble 2019)
Ronda Rousey had a lot of eyeballs on her. She’s a global mega star due to her success in The UFC. No doubt a trailblazer for women in sports/entertainment, but this is WWE a totally different federation and there were a lot of questions and honestly doubt to if Ronda Rousey can adapt and those questions got put to bed at WrestleManisa 34. But that was a mix tag-team match, this time she’s going one v one and she’s going up against one of the best women’s wrestlers to ever step foot in WWE in Sasha Banks. Could she hang with Sasha Banks? Guess what? She did just that. There’s no undisputed doubt, that if you think your good in this wrestling thing, then you need to go one v one against Sasha Banks because she’s the messuring stick. Sasha Banks brings the best out of her opponents, no matter if their new or a veteran in this business. When it comes to best quality match? This was her best. Even though she had an awesome match against Charlotte Flair at Survivor Series, but that was broken up into a brawl and it was a storytelling type of match. She had to deliver, she was in the ring with Sasha Banks and she did just that.
9. Sasha Banks vs. Asuka (RAW 2018)
This was the first of many encounters between Sasha Banks and Asuka. During this time, Asuka was white hot coming off winning the 2018 Women’s Royal Rumble and still remaining undefeated. Both women had awesome runs in NXT and we were all waiting for anticipation for that first encounter between the two and we finally got it. Sasha Banks wanted to prove that she was ”ready for Asuka” and that was the entire story, which was simple but effective. The match was everything I expected and more. Though, I must say that the crowd was quite for the first half of the match but instantly woke up and that just showed how good Sasha Banks and Asuka are. Both women were evenly matched, but Sasha Banks made one mistake and then the rest was history.
10. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch (NXT Takeover Rival 2015)
This was the match where I started to appreciate and realize that women’s wrestling if positioned in the right spot. That it can be a draw and fun to watch and that’s exactly what this match was, fun. Also, this match was when I said to myself ”I don’t get Bayley, Charlotte Flair or Becky Lynch YET. But Sasha Banks, I’m all in on.” Then Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and Bayley made me become a fan later on, but this run was all about Sasha Banks and how people during this time said ”I don’t get the boss character and her.” I told them ”keep watching. She will prove you all wrong and you will start to become a fan.” All four ladies brought their A-game. Every single near-fall from Sasha Banks, I started to say, ”damn. WWE is teasing me. Maybe she isn’t winning” but then she picked up with win via a roll-up on Charlotte Flair and I rejoyced.
JORDAN TURNER
Podcaster and creative writer.
