'I Wanted To Know Who I Was Without WWE' - Sasha Banks Opens Up On Hiatus After WrestleMania 35

Sasha Banks has gone into detail about her decision to take an extended hiatus from WWE in 2019.

Banks took a four month break from WWE following WrestleMania 35, eventually returning in August 2019, and the former SmackDown Women's Champion has opened up on her reasons behind the hiatus.

'The Boss' says she feels like she lost her personal identity and instead was constantly the character she portrays on WWE television.

Speaking on the Just Women’s Sports podcast with Kelly O’Hara, she said: "It was from everything. From that gruelling schedule and never getting to take in those wins and understanding those victories, taking my losses really, really hard and just being a baby.

"I started wrestling when I was 18, got signed when I was 20, straight on the road when I was 23. Just had that nonstop career of being Sasha Banks when I was 20 years old, and having my hair color change and not seeing my real hair for so long. 

"And just losing, kind of myself and I lost my name. Not even my mom called me Mercedes. My friends didn’t call me Mercedes. They called me either The Boss or Sasha Banks.

“When I was at home I was really lost and confused. I looked at myself in the mirror and I just was not happy. This girl who was so obsessed with being a WWE superstar, it felt like her dream was coming to an end and it was everything I ever dreamt of as a kid anymore.

"I didn’t want to hate something that I’d loved my whole life, so I told myself I needed to take a break and walk away from it to find myself. To find out who Mercedes was. Cause at that point, all I knew was Sasha Banks.

"I was thankful for the time off. I got to take my wig off and see my beautiful, brown curly hair. I was like ‘Oh okay, I remember that Mercedes. Your hair is actually beautiful. Okay that’s good, you have hair. Okay, you remember your name, that’s good.’

"I wanted to know who I was without WWE. I wanted to know if I  even liked anything else besides wrestling."

H/T Wrestling Inc.