The relationship between WWE fans and WWE Superstars is a unique one. Athletes play themselves on TV. Actors play someone else. But wrestlers do both.
So when a fan sees a WWE Superstar walking amongst the public, it’s kind of like seeing Batman or Darth Vader in the flesh. However, sometimes these human versions of superheroes would like to maintain their anonymity while at an airport’s baggage claim. The magenta haired Sasha Banks falls in this category.
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During an interview with Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast, The Boss kept it real about fans and boundaries. To Banks, there’s a line that needs to be drawn.
“You want me to talk about how much I hate being bothered at an airport or hotels?” Sasha Banks started. “I grew up a wrestling fan so I knew I wanted to meet my favorite wrestlers but always in the back of my head I never thought in my life I’d be like ‘hey, they’re gonna fly in. Maybe I should wait at the airport for like twelve-hours at the gate Hey — they don’t need any sleep, maybe let me find the hotel they’re staying at and bother them.’”
Banks would go on to question proactive fan’s diligence, by likening it to “stalking.”
“I don’t tweet out what hotel I’m at. I don’t tweet what airport I’ll be flying out of. I do tweet what arena I’ll be performing at so I do expect fans at the arena and I’m so happy to sign at the arena. That’s fine because I’m telling you where I’m going to be at. If I see you in public, that’s fine. But when I’m at the airport at four in the morning and I see somebody with a carry-on and they open it with a hundred items of everyone and they’re bothering everyone to get an autograph and then I see it on eBay… that’s not okay to me.”
While Banks understandably annoyed by some fans intrusive nature, is she right to be so hard on them? Former WWE Superstar, Bubba Ray Dudley, added a new perspective:
Never worry about fans waiting at an airport at 5am asking for your autograph. Worry when they’re NOT there at 5am asking for your autograph
— Bubba Ray Dudley (@bullyray5150) September 3, 2017
Even The Miz, WWE’s best heel, shared the same sentiment on the subject he once joined Sam Roberts:
“Whether it’s an adult asking for my autograph or a kid, whether I’m eating or doing something I don’t want to do, it’s like ‘They want my autograph’. It’s kind of a privilege and an honor…They’re the people that pay my bills.”
Whose side are you on? Are fans wrong for taking questionable measure to find the Boss? Or should Banks just take is an occupational hazard that goes along with living her dream?
