Team B.A.D.

Team B.A.D.
The members of Team B.A.D. (from left to right): Naomi, Sasha Banks, and Tamina
Tag team
MembersNaomi
Tamina
Sasha Banks
Name(s)Team B.A.D.
Debut2015
Disbanded2022
Years active2015–2016
2022

Team B.A.D. was an American professional wrestling stable that performed in WWE, consisting of Naomi, Tamina and Sasha Banks.

The inceptive variation of the team began and ended as a tag team consisting of Naomi and Tamina, but for most of its time was a trio also including Banks, who joined in July 2015 as part of the Divas Revolution storyline and left the team in February 2016. Both Naomi and Tamina are members of the Anoaʻi professional wrestling family.

History

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Formation and beginnings (2015)

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In May 2015, Naomi aligned herself with her real life cousin-in-law Tamina Snuka, after having been outnumbered by The Bella Twins (Brie and Nikki Bella) on multiple occasions.[1] Tamina and Naomi went on to defeat The Bella Twins in a tag team match at Payback.[2]

Divas Revolution (2015–2016)

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On the July 13 episode of Raw, after weeks of being outnumbered by The Bella Twins and their ally Alicia Fox, WWE authority figure Stephanie McMahon called for a "revolution" in the WWE Divas division and introduced then debuting NXT Women's Champion Sasha Banks as an ally to Naomi and Tamina, after bringing in Charlotte and Becky Lynch to ally with Paige, leading to a brawl between the three teams.[3]

At Battleground, a triple threat match took place with Sasha Banks representing Team B.A.D. against Charlotte of Team Paige (later known as Team PCB), and Brie Bella for Team Bella in a losing effort while Charlotte picked up the victory.[4] The following night on the July 20 episode of Raw, Naomi and Sasha Banks were victorious in a tag team match against Paige and Becky Lynch.[5] The three teams would ultimately face off at SummerSlam in a three team elimination match, where Team B.A.D. were the first team to be eliminated courtesy of Team Bella when Tamina was pinned by Brie, and Team PCB would win the match.[6]

After defeating then Divas Champion Nikki Bella by submission in a non-title match on the August 17 episode of Raw,[7] Banks participated in the first ever Divas number one contender's Beat the Clock challenge, in which she fought Paige to a time limit draw and Charlotte was named the number one contender.[8] Following this, Banks began a short feud with Paige and defeated her twice on the September 7 and 14 episodes of Raw,[9][10] and fought to a no contest on the September 10 episode of SmackDown.[11]

Although she lost in a fatal four-way number one contender's match for Charlotte's Divas Championship in November,[12] Banks started a winning streak, defeating the likes of Brie Bella[13] Alicia Fox,[14] and Becky Lynch,[15][16] whom she again defeated after distractions by Naomi and Tamina on the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs kickoff show on December 13.[17]

Banks' split and initial dissolution (2016)

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Banks returned at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 24, 2016, after about a month off television,[18] attacking Charlotte and Becky Lynch after their Divas Championship match, showing her intentions to challenge for the championship.[19] Prior to a match with Lynch on the February 1 episode of Raw, Banks claimed that she was "on her own", signaling that she had moved on from the group, at which Naomi and Tamina declared that there were no hard feelings; however, during Sasha's match with Lynch, the duo attacked Banks until she was saved by Lynch, turning Banks into a face in the process.[20] The feud between Banks, Naomi and Tamina would continue throughout February,[21][22][23][24] and would lead to a tag team match at Fastlane on February 21, where Naomi and Tamina lost.[25]

Team B.A.D. & Blonde members, walking to the ring before their match at the WrestleMania 32 event in April 2016

After their feud with Banks, Team B.A.D. formed a brief alliance with Lana, Emma and Summer Rae, and on the March 14 episode of Raw, they defeated Alicia Fox and Brie Bella after a distraction by Lana. Team B.A.D. allied with her later in a segment backstage after confronting Paige,[26] and later allied with Emma and Rae the week after on Main Event.[27] The following week on Raw, they accompanied Emma to her match against Paige, where Emma won, after which they attacked Paige's allies (Alicia Fox, Brie Bella and Natalya) before they were saved by a returning Eva Marie.[28] As a result, a 10-Diva tag team match between the two newly dubbed alliances, "Team Total Divas" and "Team B.A.D. & Blonde", was announced for the WrestleMania 32's pay-per-view pre-show.[29] At the event on April 3, they were defeated by Team Total Divas after Naomi submitted to Brie Bella.[30][31] After appearing sporadically since WrestleMania, Team B.A.D. disbanded in early May, when Tamina underwent knee surgery in order to repair torn ligaments, and Naomi began filming The Marine 5: Battleground, and was injured with a torn ankle tendon.[32][33] Both Naomi and Tamina would be drafted to SmackDown (Naomi during 2016 WWE draft, and Tamina during the 2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up).

WWE Women's Tag Team Champions (2022)

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The Team B.A.D. making their entrance.

On the February 25, 2022, edition of SmackDown, Naomi announced that her and Sasha Banks were going to challenge for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, thus reuniting the team as a duo.[34] On the following episode of Raw, reigning champions Carmella and Queen Zelina would accept their challenge, consequently setting up the bout for WrestleMania 38.[35][36] Over the following weeks, the respective teams of Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan, and Natalya and Shayna Baszler, would be added to the bout, thereby making it a fatal four-way tag team match.[37] At the event, Banks and Naomi were successful in their pursuit, as Banks put an end to her streak of WrestleMania losing efforts and entered her record-tying third reign with the title.[38][39] During the May 16 episode of Raw, Banks and Naomi reportedly walked out after a meeting with Vince McMahon due to a creative dispute.[40] WWE released an official statement, in which the company stated Banks and Naomi "walked into WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis' office with their suitcases in hand, placed their tag team championship belts on his desk and walked out".[41] The two were originally booked for the show's main event, which had to be reworked.[40] On the following episode of SmackDown, it was announced that Banks and Naomi had been suspended indefinitely, therefore the titles were vacated.[42] Banks subsequently left WWE in the summer and would later debut at Wrestle Kingdom 17 under the name Mercedes Moné. Naomi confirmed she was no longer with WWE in March 2023 until she would return to the company in January 2024.

Championships and accomplishments

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Only championships and accomplishments that were achieved while as a tag team are listed. For example, although Sasha Banks is a three-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion, only one of those reigns occurred while officially being in a tag team with Naomi.


References

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  1. ^ Caldwell, James (May 4, 2015). "CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 5/4: Ongoing "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw - PPV hype, Cena's Open Challenge, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  2. ^ Caldwell, James (May 17, 2015). "CALDWELL'S PAYBACK PPV REPORT 5/17: Ongoing "virtual-time" coverage of four-way WWE World Title match, I Quit, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  3. ^ Caldwell, James (July 13, 2015). "CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 7/13: Ongoing "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw - Brock Smash, final Battleground PPV hype, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  4. ^ Namako, Jason (July 19, 2015). "WWE Battleground PPV Results - 7/19/15 (Undertaker returns)". Wrestleview. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  5. ^ Caldwell, James (July 20, 2015). "CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 7/20: Ongoing "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw - Battleground fall-out, Undertaker opening Raw, Brock Lesnar, Road to Summerslam, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  6. ^ Caldwell, James (August 23, 2015). "CALDWELL'S SUMMERSLAM REPORT 8/23: Ongoing "virtual-time" coverage of Lesnar vs. Taker, Title vs. Title, more big matches". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  7. ^ Caldwell, James (August 17, 2015). "CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 8/17: Ongoing "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw - Final Summerslam hype, Lesnar & Undertaker, Cena returns from injury, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  8. ^ Caldwell, James (August 31, 2015). "CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 8/31: Ongoing "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw - Sting opening Raw, Night of Champions hype, Beat the Clock, SSlam re-match, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  9. ^ Caldwell, James (September 7, 2015). "CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 9/7: Ongoing "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw - Night of Champions build-up continues". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  10. ^ Caldwell, James (September 14, 2015). "CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 9/14: Ongoing "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw - final Night of Champions hype, Sting, two title matches, more on "season premiere"". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  11. ^ Parks, Greg (September 10, 2015). "PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 9/10: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Thursday show, including Ryback vs. Seth Rollins in a Lumberjack Match, Sasha Banks vs. Paige". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  12. ^ Trionfo, Richard. "WWE RAW REPORT: IF IT IS NOVEMBER . . . IT IS TIME FOR REMINDERS OF TRADITIONAL FIVE ON FIVE MATCHES, WHO IS THE NUMBER ONE CONTENDER, THE POWER OF POSITIVITY AND UNICORNS WAS STRONG TONIGHT, SOMEONE HAS BORROWED UNDERTAKER AND KANE'S POWERS, AND MORE". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  13. ^ Trionfo, Richard (November 30, 2015). "WWE RAW REPORT: A NEW GROUP IS FORMED, IS THE QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE SHOWING HER TRUE STRIPES?, ARE THE NEW DAY TURNING INTO J&J SECURITY FOR SHEAMUS?, A FEW RETURNS, AND MORE". PWInsider. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  14. ^ Deitz, Irvin. "12/1 WWE Main Event Results, plus NXT'er in Dark Match". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  15. ^ Jacques, Paul. "11/10 WWE Main Event Results, plus Finn Balor in Dark Match". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  16. ^ Caldwell, James (November 23, 2015). "11/23 WWE Raw Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Live Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  17. ^ Caldwell, James (December 13, 2015). "12/13 WWE TLC PPV RESULTS – Caldwell's Complete Real-Time Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  18. ^ Johnson, Mike (January 12, 2016). "INJURY UPDATE ON TOP WWE DIVA". PWInsider. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  19. ^ Caldwell, James (January 24, 2016). "1/24 Royal Rumble PPV Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Live Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  20. ^ Caldwell, James (February 1, 2016). "2/1 WWE Raw TV Results – CALDWELL'S Complete, Live Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  21. ^ Trionfo, Richard (February 4, 2016). "WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT: DOUBLE DUTY, BIG MATCH NEXT WEEK, WHEN FRIENDS ARE NOT FRIENDS, MORE WITH GOLDUST AND R TRUTH, AND MORE". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  22. ^ Trionfo, Richard (February 8, 2016). "WWE RAW REPORT: DANIEL BRYAN GIVES HIS RETIREMENT SPEECH". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  23. ^ Trionfo, Richard (February 11, 2016). "WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT: THE JERICHO AND STYLES SHOW, WYATT FORESHADOWS A FEUD?, AND MORE". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
  24. ^ Trionfo, Richard (February 18, 2016). "WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT: DID JERICHO ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE?, WHAT DID BROCK DO ON HIS RETURN TO SMACKDOWN?, AND MORE". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  25. ^ Johnson, Mike (February 21, 2016). "COMPLETE WWE FAST LANE PPV COVERAGE". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  26. ^ Richard, Trionfo (March 14, 2016). "WWE RAW REPORT: SHANE AND TAKER, HHH IN ACTION, TAG TITLE MATCH, DEAN AND BROCK, CHALLENGES MADE FOR WRESTLEMANIA, AND MORE". PWInsider. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  27. ^ WWE.com, Editorial Staff (March 22, 2016). "Emma's surprise return on WWE Main Event leads to attack on 'Total Divas'". WWE.com. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  28. ^ Richard, Trionfo (March 28, 2016). "WWE RAW REPORT: IS THE ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA PAVED IN GOLD OR SOMETHING ELSE?, WHO IS THE TENTH IN THE DIVAS TAG MATCH?, AND MORE". PWInsider. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  29. ^ John, Clapp (March 28, 2016). "The Total Divas vs. B.A.D. & Blonde". WWE.com. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  30. ^ Jeff, Laboon (April 3, 2016), Total Divas def. B.A.D. & Blonde, WWE.com, retrieved April 4, 2016
  31. ^ Richard, Trionfo (April 3, 2016). "COMPLETE WWE WRESTLEMANIA 32 REPORT: THE WOMEN'S TITLE DEBUTS, WHO IS IN CHARGE OF RAW?, ANDRE THE GIANT BATTLE ROYAL, IC TITLE LADDER MATCH, AND MORE IN THE 6 HOURS AND 50 MINUTES OF COVERAGE". PWInsider. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  32. ^ Mike, Johnson (May 3, 2016). "TAMINA INJURED, WWE STARS MISSING SMACKDOWN TAPING, TAZ TELLS AWESOME VINCE STORY, LONE STAR RESPONDS TO RYBACK AND MORE". PWInsider. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  33. ^ Mike, Johnson (May 5, 2016). "ANOTHER FEMALE WWE STAR INJURED". PWInsider. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  34. ^ "2/25 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Powell's review of the contract signing for WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. WWE Champion Brock Lesnar in a title vs. title match at WrestleMania, Sami Zayn celebrates his Intercontinental Championship win, Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. February 26, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  35. ^ "2/28 WWE Raw Results: Powell's live review of Damian Priest vs. Finn Balor for the U.S. Championship, Edge addressing his WrestleMania future, Raw Tag Champions Alpha Academy vs. Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens in a non-title match, RK-Bro vs. The Street Profits". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  36. ^ "Sasha Banks & Naomi to challenge Queen Zelina & Carmella at WrestleMania". WWE. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  37. ^ WWE.com Staff (February 28, 2022). "Women's Tag Team Champions Queen Zelina & Carmella vs. Sasha Banks & Naomi vs. Rhea Ripley & Liv Morgan vs. Natalya & Shayna Baszler". WWE. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  38. ^ "WrestleMania 38 results: Powell's live review of night two with Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar for the Unified WWE Championship, RK-Bro vs. The Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy for the Raw Tag Titles, Edge vs. AJ Styles, Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn in an Anything Goes match, Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory, Bobby Lashley vs. Omos". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. April 3, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  39. ^ Mrosko, Geno (April 4, 2022). "Sasha Banks finally broke her losing streak at WrestleMania". Cageside Seats. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  40. ^ a b "RAW MAIN EVENT CHANGED AFTER TALENTS WALK OUT OF TAPING | PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
  41. ^ "Official WWE statement on Sasha Banks & Naomi". WWE. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
  42. ^ "SASHA BANKS, NAOMI 'SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY' BY WWE | PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
  43. ^ Meltzer, Dave (January 25, 2016). "January 25, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 2015 Observer Awards Issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 43. ISSN 1083-9593.
  44. ^ Zimmerman, Zack. "1/13 Zim's WWE NXT Live Coverage: Battle Royal to determine Bayley's next challenger for the NXT Women's Championship, Dash and Dawson vs. The Ascension, plus Elias Sampson and Tommaso Ciampa in action". prowrestling.net. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
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