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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Liam Llewellyn

WWE Column: Sasha Banks and Naomi update and Cody Rhodes excited for Clash of the Castle

Mirror Sport is back with another WWE column and as fans know all too well, there is rarely a dull moment where the company is concerned.

We are focusing on Clash of the Castle and how the recently returned Cody Rhodes feels about taking part in the show.

The event will emanate from the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, and will mark the first stadium show to take place in the UK since SummerSlam in 1992.

We will also share an update on a major story this week concerning the women's tag team champions, Sasha Banks and Naomi and their decision to walk out of Monday Night Raw.

WWE's Sasha Banks and Naomi walked out of an episode of Raw after being frustrated with plans for them moving forward (@sashabankswwe - twitter)

Sasha Banks and Naomi walkout update

As reported by Mirror Sport yesterday, Sasha Banks and Naomi, who captured the women’s tag team titles at WrestleMania last month, are claimed to have left Monday Night Raw while the show was on air, forcing the planned main event to be changed.

The pair were set to compete in the Raw main event, with WWE advertising a Six Pack Challenge which would see the winner of the match earn a shot at Raw women's champion Bianca Belair at Hell in a Cell next month.

The match, which was also set to involve Becky Lynch, Asuka, Doudrop and Nikki A.S.H., would have seen Banks and Naomi compete against each other despite being tag team champions.

In a statement by WWE, Banks and Naomi felt they "weren't respected enough as tag team champions".

In a new update, as of the time of writing, Banks and Naomi remain under contract with WWE and they are still officially the Women's Tag Team Champions.

People backstage in WWE that wrestling publication Fightful Select have spoken to, do not expect Banks or Naomi to be released but it was noted that 'nothing is a certainty.'

According to Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Live, it has also been claimed the pair have ‘no sympathy backstage’ for their actions and have been branded ‘divas’.

However, there has been an outpouring of support from fans for the pair, who share a burning desire to elevate the women’s tag team championships and compete in matches on its biggest shows.

Cody Rhodes excited to perform in the UK at Clash of the Castle

‘The American Nightmare' Cody Rhodes is thrilled WWE are heading back to British shores for a stadium show.

The second-generation superstar is surprised it has taken three decades for an event of this magnitude to be held in the UK, and has expressed his desire to be on the card.

"As one of the biggest fans ever of SummerSlam 1992, I am shocked it’s taken this long. Clearly by the sign-up interest and the pre-sale interest and everything that's happening, this aims to be the biggest stadium show in the world. It truly does," Rhodes told WWE UK.

"It's one of those things as a member of the roster, I've got to find my way onto it. I've got to find my way into a premium spot because I have watched SummerSlam ‘92 so many times I can do the commentary almost verbatim. It's our time now. It has been 30 years. It’s our time. It’s time for us to make our moment."

The 36-year-old made a surprise return at WrestleMania last month and defeated Seth Rollins in an outstanding match. In what was a surreal moment for the star, he described how it felt to return after six years away.

Cody Rhodes has commented on performing in the UK ahead of Clash of the Castle this September (Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

"I have watched it back. I really never intended to watch it back though because of how good, no, how great it felt in the moment. I've watched it all back in its totality and it is fun knowing where I was mentally coming down the ramp," he added.

"Knowing the exact moment I decided to be the American Nightmare. That might sound peculiar, but I didn't really realise what I was about to do and how I was about to do it until that first pyro blast went off behind me. In that moment I knew we were on another level."

Once his rivalry with Rollins is behind him, Rhodes intends to fulfil a lifelong dream and achieve something his legendary father Dusty Rhodes was unable to accomplish, win the WWE Championship.

"I have been so open and grown up in front of the audience that they do really know me, I think they know that it is the most important thing," he explained. That all the pressure in the world is on me to do it. It is the one that got away. No Rhodes got their hands on it.

"I have said it, made it clear, and if it goes unobtained that's one thing but I just couldn't let it go unsaid. With that in mind I have a habit of very much putting things out in the universe when it comes to sports entertainment and making sure they happen.

"I am a big, big proponent of sticking to your word. I would love to give my word to the WWE Universe that not only do I want it, but I am going to get it. Only time will tell."

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