Sasha Banks is one of the top WWE stars, but she says that when she first told her mother her in-ring name, she wasn’t a fan of it.
“The name came really just randomly,” Banks said during an interview with the “Just Women’s Sports” podcast.
She says her fellow athletes came up with a name for her.
“They asked me to put a long list of names, and I always remember putting Sasha with a different last name and Banks with a different first name. And I remember just debuting at a house show for WWE, and I needed a name. I was kind of just Mercedes KV. Finally, Sara Del Rey came into the room and said, ‘we got you a name.’ I go, ‘oh, what is it?’ She goes, ‘it’s Sasha Banks.’ I’m like, ‘oh! I love it. That sounds really, really good!'”
Banks was so excited about her new name and rushed to tell her mother:
“I texted my mom. I said ‘hey mom, I got a WWE name. It’s Sasha Banks.’ She ended up calling me and goes ‘that’s a p-rn star name! Tell them to change it!’ I go ‘mom I can’t tell WWE to change the name.’ That’s how my mom is.”
But since then, her mother has warmed up to her famous daughter’s moniker.
“She’s come around to the name. She’s like Mama Banks now.”
Banks is a record five-time Raw Women’s Champion. She was also a part of the historic Women’s Championship main-event match at WrestleMania 37.
Last month, Banks trended online after “liking” a post supporting people’s decision not to be vaccinated.
The former WWE SmackDown women’s champion, nicknamed “The Boss,” was put in the hot seat by Twitter user@tayredacted.
Alongside screenshots of anti-vaccination Eugenicist John Bell giving his take on why people should avoid the vaccine, Banks appeared to be one of the users who “liked” the video.
