Former WWE star Ariane Andrew believes her close friend Naomi was manipulated, which led to her decision to exit while Raw was on the air.
Naomi and Sasha Banks are the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions. The two were scheduled to be a part of a six-pack challenge on the May 16 episode of Raw.
The match was to feature Naomi, Sasha, Asuka, Becky Lynch, Nikki A.S.H., and Doudrop. The winner was to get a shot at Bianca Belair's Raw Women's Championship.
Things went awry when Sasha and Naomi left the building.
Ariane Andrew Thinks Something Shady Is At Play
Ariane Andrew, formerly known as Cameron in WWE, spoke to
"What happened I think — I'm just gonna remove Sasha because Sasha's done this before. Sasha's a great athlete, let me not get this twisted cause I don't want fans coming for me. She's definitely deserved — like she's a great wrestler, she's a great character, she does what she has to do.
"My girl Naomi, she wouldn't do this and I feel like she wouldn't do this unless she had someone manipulating and telling her how to do this. Let's best believe if I was here, coming as a Funkadactyl we wouldn't have this happening at all."
Reunion?
Ariane used to team with Naomi as part of The Funkadactyls. She offered assistance to her good friend if she wants to stay in a tag team.
"This is where we're at, so it's unfortunate what happened but I'm gonna say it right here: Naomi, I've always been your girl, I've always been by your side. Do you need a tag team partner to come help you out?
"Cause I'm here because I got you and we ain't gonna do this foolishness. We can still make a dream team happen, we can make history happen, and we ain't gotta do all this stuff. Just play the game, girl. I'll play it with you."
Sasha Banks A Manipulator?
When pushed on whether or not she believes Sasha is indeed the manipulator, Ariane had the following to say:
"Again, Sasha is Sasha. You have Snoop Dogg as your cousin. You're a top athlete, you can do whatever the f*ck you wanna do. You can literally say what you wanna say, do what you wanna do with no repercussion.
"And if you're a star athlete, I feel like she can back it up. The one thing that she can do is she can back it up. It's not like, 'oh she can have all these people who can back her up without having the talent to do so or the beauty.'
"She's a f*cking top f*cking b*tch, she can f*cking back it up in the ring but if you have the top agent, you have a top celebrity backing you up, a thousand percent you're gonna have the extra boost.
"But someone like Naomi, where's your extra boost?"
Reports have claimed that Sasha had been unhappy with Vince McMahon over creative plans. In a statement issued by WWE, the company said the two left their tag team titles on the desk of John Laurinaitis' desk and said they felt they weren't appreciated.
PWInsider reported that Naomi was supposed to win the six-pack challenge and challenge Bianca Belair for the Raw Women's Championship at Hell in a Cell. It's also been reported that Sasha was set to challenge Ronda Rousey for the SmackDown Women's Title.
Both Naomi and Sasha were expected to lose those matches.
Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline noted on Wrestling Observer Live that sources told him there is zero sympathy for Sasha Banks backstage at WWE. As far as Naomi goes, it appears no one backstage has badmouthed her over the situation.
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