Sasha Banks, WWE Reportedly Have 'Hang-Ups in Negotiations' on New Contract

Contractual issues have reportedly played a role in holding up Sasha Banks' return to WWE programming.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), there have been "hang-ups" between WWE and Banks when it comes to negotiations for a new deal.

Along with Naomi, Banks walked out prior to the May 16 episode of Raw, which was scheduled to feature a Six-Pack Challenge involving both Banks and Naomi to determine the No. 1 contender for the Raw Women's Championship.

After Banks and Naomi walked out, WWE released a statement in which it condemned their actions. As part of the statement, WWE noted that Banks and Naomi left their WWE Women's Tag Team Championship belts on the desk of then-head of talent relations John Laurinaitis before leaving the arena:

Later that week on SmackDown, it was announced that Banks and Naomi had both been stripped of the titles and suspended indefinitely for unprofessional conduct.

In the weeks that followed, rumors and speculation swirled regarding WWE releasing Banks from her contract; however, WWE never made any such announcement.

At the time, it seemed highly unlikely that Banks would return, but the dynamic changed significantly in July when Vince McMahon retired from his positions as chairman, CEO and head of creative, while Laurinaitis was also removed from his position.

Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan took over as executives, while Triple H became the new head of creative. It was assumed that those moved opened the door for a Banks return since Triple H was primarily responsible for signing Banks and helping develop her in NXT.

Meltzer (h/t Nitish Vashishtha of Ringside News) reported in August that Banks and Naomi had reached an agreement in principle to return to WWE, but neither has resurfaced on WWE programming yet.

While Meltzer's latest report suggests there is still work to be done in order to get Banks back in the fold, he is also reporting that she is still under contract with the company and always has been.

Despite being just 30 years of age, Banks is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most accomplished female Superstars in WWE history with five Raw Women's Championships, one SmackDown Women's Championship, one NXT Women's Championship and three WWE Women's Tag Team Championships on her resume.

Banks has also become a crossover star because of her role as Koska Reeves on the Star Wars series The Mandalorian, which likely makes WWE's desire to get her back at some point even greater.

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