On today’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer stated that Banks is not cleared to wrestle. It is unclear what exact injury she is dealing with but it seems it may have occurred or was further aggravated at Royal Rumble against Ronda Rousey.
Banks was pulled from live events last weekend so she could rehab her injury. She did, however, appear on this week’s edition of Raw in a tag team match with Bayley against Alicia Fox and Nikki Cross. Her ring time, however, was extremely limited.
Bayley took the majority of the bumps and physical interaction in the match. In order to prevent the audience from knowing Banks was injured, Cross jumped The Boss prior to the bout. Banks and Bayley defeated their opponents and are one of six teams vying for the first-ever Women’s Tag Team Championship belts at Elimination Chamber.
Meltzer went on to say that it is very rare that WWE officials will allow a Superstar in the ring if they are not cleared, even in a limited capacity. They must be pretty confident that Banks will be cleared for the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view next Sunday and wanted to keep the storyline going as planned since it was a qualifying match.
Banks has had a long history of injuries since joining WWE, including back and concussion issues. Thus, the timing of her current injuries couldn’t be worse. Just this past September, Banks had to be removed from the Mixed Match Challenge due to an injury. She was subsequently replaced by Mickie James.
It has been speculated for quite a while that the Boss ‘N’ Hug Connection will be the winners of the newly announced championships. They have been teaming for a good portion of the second half of last year and have a huge fan base. If Banks isn’t cleared by then, it will put a huge wrench in WWE’s plans.
Keep checking back to Diva Dirt for further details on Bank’s status.
