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Vince Russo believes booking frustrations were not the only reason why Naomi walked out of WWE RAW with Sasha Banks.
The two superstars left the arena after refusing to compete in a six-pack challenge match during the latest episode of RAW. Since then, they have been stripped of the Women’s Tag Team Championship and indefinitely suspended by the company. Their merchandise has also been removed from WWE Shop.
Russo, WWE’s former head writer, told Sportskeeda Wrestling’s Dr. Chris Featherstone that there is likely a lot more to the story:
“I just don’t think it was a spur of the moment thing, I really don’t,” Russo said. “I think this has been something that’s been festering for a little while. Chris, you are a psychologist. You know darn well because this happened to me at WWE. It starts with things starting to bother you, then they start bothering you more, then you don’t like going to work.” [9:31-10:01]
Watch the video above to hear Russo's thoughts on how Bianca Belair overtook Naomi as WWE's top African-American female superstar. He also commented on the possibility of Jimmy Uso receiving heat for his wife's actions.
Vince Russo compares Naomi's walkout to his WWE exit
In 1999, Russo raised concerns with Vince McMahon about the limited time he spent with his family due to his writing commitments. The WWE Chairman advised the one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion to hire a nanny, which ultimately led to him quitting the company.
Comparing that conversation to Naomi’s situation, Russo said WWE’s booking was likely the final straw for the two-time SmackDown Women’s Champion:
“Chris, you start looking for that one thing, that out. To me, it was Vince McMahon telling me to hire a nanny. That’s all I needed and it was bye bye. It built towards that where now you’re looking for that one thing. That’s what this sounds like to me. This doesn’t look like on this one day they walked into the building and didn’t like what they were doing. I think there was a lot more to it than that.” [10:01-10:31]
WWE reportedly planned to book Naomi and Sasha Banks in singles feuds against RAW Women’s Champion Bianca Belair and SmackDown Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey, respectively.
The former Women’s Tag Team Champions allegedly thought their tag titles were not taken seriously enough. As a result, they left the titles on the desk of WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis and walked out of RAW.
Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.
