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Sasha Banks named Sports Illustrated’s 2020 wrestler of the year

Archie Blade
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Sasha Banks named Sports Illustrated's 2020 wrestler of the year

Sasha Banks named Sports Illustrated’s 2020 wrestler of the year beating Moxley, McIntyre and Naito! The Boss has had an amazing last 12 months.

For the longest time it seemed that Sasha Banks would join a long list of talent who had a lot of potential but could never reach it. She always had the fans behind her but it always seemed that there was another woman the WWE preferred over her.

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Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch, the list was long and at one point it seemed endless. For one reason or the other however, the WWE found themselves short on all the aforementioned names this year and Banks finally got her chance and boy did she swing it out of the park!

Along with Bayley, Banks made WWE TV enjoyable at a time when fans were still getting used to shows without a crowd. Her character work was ace but she was also consistently putting in match of the night candidates every time she entered the squared circle.

Sasha Banks named Sports Illustrated’s 2020 wrestler of the year

Sports Illustrated have released their list of top 10 wrestler of 2020. Last year they released two separate lists dividing it between the men and women. Becky Lynch and Jon Moxley topped their respective lists. This year, a combined list was released with Sasha Banks taking the top spot over the likes of Drew McIntyre. Jon Moxley and Tetsuya Neito!


“In a year where shows felt disjointed without a crowd, the antidote was turning on WWE programming to watch Banks excel at her craft,” SI wrote about the Boss. “Banks’ brilliance in 2020 was undeniable. She helped make opponents, and she created something on-screen that fans felt. She accomplished this in a manner unlike any other over the past 12 months.”

Banks was employed on all three of WWE’s shows last year. She famously took on Io Shirai, helping NXT beat AEW at the ratings in the process. She won all three Main roster Women’s championships; becoming the first woman to do so and in the process, became only the third women’s grand slam champion.

Apart from the accolades, Banks was part of a phenomenal story with Bayley and put on classics with almost about everyone she took the ring with. Many stars were born in 2020 but no one made it their own like Banks did.

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About the author

Archie Blade

Archie Blade

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Archie is a WWE and UFC Editor/Author at the SportsRush. Like most combat sports enthusiasts, his passion for watching people fight began with WWE when he witnessed a young Brock Lesnar massacre Hulk Hogan back in 2002. This very passion soon branched out to boxing and mixed martial arts. Over the years he fell in love with the theatrics that preceded the bell and the poetic carnage that followed after. Each bruise a story to tell, each wound a song of struggle, his greatest desire is to be there to witness it all. His favorite wrestler is Shawn Michaels and he believes that GSP is the greatest to ever step foot inside the octagon. Apart from wrestling, he is also fond of poetry and music.

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