Not even thirty years old yet and Sasha Banks will already go down in history as one of the most decorated superstars of all time - male or female. While many women can now claim they were the main event, she is the only one who can claim she was the first to headline an NXT Takeover (Respect), a Raw (10/03/2016), and a PPV (Hell In A Cell 2016). She broke down nearly every barrier you could on her way to headlining these three events, becoming the first Iron Women in the Royal Rumble and one half of the first Tag Team Champions.
The Boss has nearly done it all in the WWE. These days other people are taking up real estate in her boardroom. But that’s seemingly due to her frustration of where the current product is and her place in it, or at least that’s what the rumor and innuendo is. The WWE is giving her the time she needs to decide what she wants to do next, that’s a lot of respect being shown for Banks. Hopefully, she returns it in kind.
10 Snoop’s Not Her Only Cousin
Sasha definitely knows how to make an entrance. Her first WrestleMania, her cousin and WWE Celebrity Hall Of Famer, Snoop Dogg played the Boss to the ring. It’s been established that the rapper and the Legit Boss are cousins. That also means she has some more famous familial relations. Besides Snoop, she’s related to Ray J, Dazz Dillinger from the Dogg Pound, and late nineties pop star, Brandy Norwood.
9 Was At The Eddie Memorial Raw
Wrestlers often speak about their favorite wrestlers and some of the big shows that they attended as fans. Edge was at WrestleMania VI cheering Hulkamania on against the onslaught of Warrior Wildness. Hardcore legends Mick Foley, Tommy Dreamer, and Bubba Ray were all inspired by watching Superfly’s death-defying leap off the steel cage at MSG.
For the Boss, her favorite was Latino Heat himself, Eddie Guerrero. Banks has signs made and was set to attend Monday Night Raw On November 14, 2005 and had yet to hear the news that she would not see her favorite perform - this was his Memorial Show.
8 Mercedes KV
When The Legit Boss got her start in Massachusetts, she was little 99 pound, Mercedes KV. She worked and trained in Chaotic Wrestling, a company with ties dating back to Killer Kowalski (notable for training Triple H). While there, she captured the CW Women’s title. She’s in good company, Chaotic Wrestling also saw superstars like John Cena and current champion Kofi Kingston train there as well as special guest like Stephanie McMahon.
7 Asian Pop Fan
With her “tough girl”’Legit Boss act you might think that Sasha Banks is all about what Teddy Long might say is “thuggin’ and buggin.’” Especially factoring in her cousin is one of the biggest rappers in the world. But Sasha Banks is more about geek-chic. She loves Asian K-Pop bands like G-Dragon. She has also spoken of her appreciation for shows like Sailor Moon and her love of oriental culture extends to Japanese wrestlers like Bull Nakano.
6 Married To Kid Mikaze
For anyone that has hopes about courting The Boss, our those crushes away - she’s taken and married! Banks does her very best to keep her private life private (a respectable stance).
She has let it slip in the past to make special announcements. Like her marriage to Sarath Ton, for example. Ton was a wrestler in his own right, working in Chaotic, where the couple first met, and even in NXT as Kid Mikaze.
5 Lived All Over The Country
When The Legit Boss comes to the ring, she is announced from “Boss-town,” as in Boston. By while she made Massachusetts home for several years, she was born in California. Because her brother has Autism, the family moved all over looking for proper education for him that led Banks to live in various places, such as Minnesota, where she went to the Eddie show.
4 First Female Match Of The Year
No matter what Sasha Banks does with the rest of her career, one thing she will always be remembered for was the performance of a lifetime. At the first Takeover: Brooklyn show in 2015, she wrestled Bayley for the NXT Women’s championship in a match that was immediately praised by fans, critics, and fellow wrestlers both in and out of the ring.
Every so often, two wrestlers click for a perfect match - but this was the first time the ladies of this generation had done it. If you haven’t watched it yet, do it now. Twice.
3 Trained In MMA
None other than Rob Van Dam was another one of Bank’s inspirations. But Mr. Monday Night has actually inspired her to take a different avenue - MMA. In the beginning of her journey, Banks had trained in MMA looking towards UFC as a possible career option. She then decided she wasn’t a fan of getting smashed in the face. Because she’s so small though, her trainers in Chaotic had to instruct fellow trainees to treat her as an equal, since they didn’t want to toss such a small girl around.
2 Pushed For The Tag Titles
If you believe the rumors as to why Sasha Banks is currently taking a sabbatical, part of the reason is how quickly she and Bayley lost the Women’s Tag Team Titles. The Boss And Hug Connection won them at Elimination Chamber and lost them a short time later at WrestleMania. While that shouldn’t matter too much to most wrestlers in the back, Banks had been pushing for the creation of the tag titles for a very long time, so perhaps she saw getting dethroned so quickly as a big slight on all of her hard work.
1 Attire By Ton, Inspired By The Queen
While no longer a wrestler, Banks’s husband Sarath Ton is an accomplished seamstress and his work caught WWE’s eye enough to hire him on full time. He’s been creating attire for his wife for years. While Ton has been making the clothes, thanks to him and Tyler Breeze, they both helped Banks create The Boss character. But it was R & B Queen Beyoncé heralded who Banks drew inspiration from.