Sasha Banks was a guest on the Steve Austin Show podcast hosted by WWE legend: ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin. During the interview, Sasha shared that while in WWE’s developmental system she realized that she needed a strong character. This was to connect more with fans and so she was looked upon as more than just a solid hand in the ring.
From here she explained how her ‘Legit Boss’ persona was born.
It turns out that the idea sparked from a conversation with Tyler Breeze:
“I talked to Tyler Breeze too because he was in the same boat as me of not having a character and he told me the same thing: like, have different names, have different characters, have different bios for them, and go to promo class and see what sticks”
While thinking of characters, Sasha chose to draw inspiration from her real-life cousin: Snoop Dogg:
“The first thing that came to mind was ‘The Boss’ because it was like, ‘you need to accept that you’re Snoop Dogg’s cousin.’ People call him ‘The Boss’ all the time, so I’m going to be this flashy, cocky character because truly, I don’t like saying it, that’s what I am. I knew at the time that I was the best women’s wrestler in that place [NXT]. The best. And if I believed in my heart if I showed it to these people, I bet that they’ll believe me because I believe myself. How could you not believe me?”
She also tells the story of performing her new character for Dusty Rhodes and shared his reaction:
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“The first promo I did was in front of Dusty and I was like, ‘I’m the meanest. I’m the baddest. I am the prettiest. I am the boss of NXT. And I remember Dusty saying, ‘that’s the sassy Sasha that I wanted to see all along!’….. [Rhodes] was like, ‘I always pictured you being sassy. I want to see sassiness.’ And I couldn’t find my sassiness until I found ‘The Legit Boss’. And every week I’d work on my promos and he’d just be like, ‘there’s something to this.'”
Sasha also mentions that the character is her but “turned all the way up”, something that you often hear Austin say about his ‘Stone Cold’ gimmick.
Let us know what you think in the comment section. [h/t to Wrestling INC] for the quotes.