Dutch Mantell thinks 9-time champion has "burned a bridge" after leaving WWE last year (Exclusive)

Dutch Mantell isn't a fan of how a certain WWE Superstar left the company last year. On the latest episode of Smack Talk, Mantell spoke about 9-time champion Sasha Banks, believing that she burned a bridge the way she left.

Sasha Banks' WWE run came to an unfortunate end, given the circumstances of her exit. Both she and Naomi walked out of RAW in May 2022 after a disagreement over their creative direction. It led to some backstage turmoil, with Naomi yet to make a return nearly eight months later.

Dutch Mantell, on the latest episode of Smack Talk, expressed how he felt about Sasha Banks leaving WWE. He said that while he thinks Naomi will return, her former tag team partner burned a bridge with her former employer:

"I don't think Sasha [Banks] will, I think Naomi might. I think Sasha's kind of burned a bridge. She's made some statements that WWE would look silly by taking her back, I could be wrong. See, that's what I always didn't understand about wrestlers, they get mad at somebody and say 'I'll never work [here]' Why would you ever say that? You might see a day where you might need to go work for a company to make the money you were making before, but you said so much bullcrap that they can't trust you or don't like you. I never understood that. When I left, I always left a place trying to leave it better." (1:34 - 2:37)

Dutch Mantell noted that he was in a similar position but made it a point to never publicly air out dirty laundry:

"I was p**sed off, but I wouldn't go public and badmouth them because it is what it is and I don't need to tell fans who have nothing to do with it what it was like. They don't understand it and they didn't understand it back then. But guys who had been there, they knew what I was talking about, but I would always try to say 'Hey, thanks and I'll see you down the road'. That's the best way to leave it!" (2:38 - 3:06)

You can watch the full video below:

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Dutch Mantell claims Sasha Banks never said hello to him backstage

Later on the same episode of Smack Talk, Dutch Mantell claimed that Sasha Banks never greeted him backstage during his time in WWE:

"I was there [WWE] for two years, guess how many times Sasha [Banks] said hello to me? Zero. Because I wasn't in her orbit. Even when I passed her, it's common to stop, especially on your first day to introduce yourself and say 'hello, pleased to meet you' or whatever. It's just a formality." (4:11 - 4:43)

Mantell said that he believes younger wrestlers should always be the ones to introduce themselves to veterans and not the other way around.

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