From The Rumor Mill: Have plans for Sasha Banks vs Bayley at WrestleMania changed?

What's the story?

Sasha Banks and Bayley were set to collide one-on-one at this year's WrestleMania if rumors were to be believed, but it seems that the introduction of the Fabulous Moolah Battle Royal could mean that their speculated match has been nixed.

In case you didn't know...

Bayley and Sasha Banks have a story that dates back to their time in NXT together where it was Bayley who defeated Banks to become NXT Women's Champion for the first time. They had the match of the year back at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn in 2015 before they were given the honor of becoming the first women to compete in an Ironwoman match at NXT TakeOver: Respect.

Bayley was then promoted to the main roster a few months after the other NXT women and has since been seen as Sasha's best friend. The duo did, however, begin to build towards a match back at Elimination Chamber when Sasha turned on her friend and cost her the chance to become Raw Women's Champion.

The heart of the matter

Sasha Banks and Bayley were building towards the first ever one-on-one women's match at WrestleMania that didn't have a stipulation but Dave Meltzer revealed on The Wrestling Observer today that he believes that the company has decided to nix the match in favor of putting the two women in the Fabulous Moolah Battle Royal. (Transcript via Ringsidenews)

“I think we got the whole WrestleMania card. I got 14 matches listed and I don’t think they need more than 14. I don’t think they are going to have anymore. They could still throw in a Bayley vs. Sasha Banks match but I am guessing they are both in the battle royal.”

There are already four matches involving the women of WWE set to take place at WrestleMania with Alexa Bliss rumored to be defending her Raw Women's Championship against Nia Jax, Charlotte defending the SmackDown Women's Championship against Asuka, Stephanie McMahon teaming with her husband Triple H against Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle and the first ever Fabulous Moolah Battle Royal.

It seems that the company could opt to put Banks and Bayley in the battle royal instead to make up the numbers.

What's next?

Sasha Banks and Bayley will continue to build up their current feud but it seems that they will play their part in the inaugural battle royal instead, which would still allow their feud to gain pace.

Author's take

Sasha and Bayley deserve to make history on The Grandest Stage Of Them All, but it seems that five Women's matches could be a little bit too much for WWE to push forward on a card that includes just 15 matches. That would mean that the women are a third of the matches and it would also mean that WWE would need to find more women for the battle royal, which will already be quite a struggle.

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