Bayley and Banks, who were already known as two ofThe Four Horsewomen for their impact onwomen's wrestling in WWE and had occasionally teamed up since 2013, became a tag team atBattleground on July 24, 2016, regularly teaming up in its aftermath onhouse shows. Although this partnership originally remained mostly off-screen, they eventually started regularly teaming up onRaw in December 2017. From July 2018 to April 2019, they used the team nameThe Boss 'n' Hug Connection. During this time, they became the inaugural WWE Women's Tag Team Champions atElimination Chamber in February 2019. From September 2019 to their split-up in September 2020, they performed asheels and simply went by the team name of "Bayley and Sasha Banks". During this time, they gave themselves the nickname The Golden Role Models, thinking of themselves as role models for young girls around the world.
Although they went on a hiatus following their title loss atWrestleMania 35 in April 2019 due toBanks' absence from WWE, they reunited in September shortly after her return, this time as heels. During this run, the duo captured the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship for a record-tying second time. Bayley also won theSmackDown Women's Championship for a second time, of which she would become the longest-reigning champion, while Banks became a record-setting five-timeRaw Women's Champion in July 2020 (a record that would be tied and later broken in 2021 byCharlotte Flair). This made them the first tag team orstable to hold all three titles at the same time, making them the only women's champions across both theRaw and SmackDown brands untilSummerSlam the following month.
The two would only have matches as opponents from May 2013 to 2015, including for theNXT Women's Championship. During that timeframe, the two, together with Charlotte andBecky Lynch, became known asThe Four Horsewomen of NXT (and later only "The Four Horsewomen" or "The Four Horsewomen of WWE"), garnering popularity and recognition for elevating women's wrestling in WWE.[3] Banks won the NXT Women's Championship from Charlotte on February 11, 2015, atTakeOver: Rival, in afatal four-way match also involving Bayley and Lynch. She would keep the title for 192 days beforedropping it to Bayley atTakeOver: Brooklyn.[4] After the match, Sasha celebrated with Bayley and former rivalsBecky Lynch andCharlotte.[5] The match was highly praised by critics and won Match of the Year at theNXT Year-End Awards. AtTakeOver: Respect on October 7, Banks was defeated by Bayley in themain event in the first 30-minuteIron Woman match in WWE history, losing twofalls to three in what would be her last match in NXT, as she would soon be drafted toRaw.[6]
A year later, while feuding withCharlotte andDana Brooke, Sasha Banks announced a mystery partner for a match against her rivals atBattleground on July 24, 2016. At the event, the mystery partner was revealed to be Bayley, who teamed with Sasha Banks to defeat Charlotte and Brooke, in what was the duo's first on-screen team-up. Although Bayley was still a member of the NXT roster at the time, she moved to Raw on August 22 after failing to re-capture the NXT Women's Championship atTakeOver: Brooklyn II fromAsuka, who had defeated her for the title atTakeOver: Dallas on April 1.[7] She was introduced onRaw byGeneral ManagerMick Foley as the new challenger for Charlotte'sRaw Women's Championship.[8] Meanwhile, Bayley and Banks would become regular tag team partners onhouse shows via a three-way alliance withAlicia Fox which lasted from September 16, 2016, to February 5, 2017, during which the three mostly feuded with Flair, Brooke andNia Jax in winning efforts.[9][10] Although the two were still active as a tag team in house shows, this was presented as a mostly off-match alliance on-screen by WWE, although they still occasionally pair up on screen, notably at 2016'sSurvivor Series event during were both a part of Team Raw in the women's Survivor Series match against Team SmackDown, which they won with Bayley and Charlotte (now renamed Charlotte Flair) as the match's survivors.[11]
On the February 13, 2017 episode ofRaw, Bayley defeated Flair for the WWE Raw Women's Championship with the help of Banks, later retaining it in aFatal-4-Way elimination match against Banks, Flair and Jax atWrestleMania 33.[12][13] She would eventually lose it toAlexa Bliss atPayback.[14] Banks would then win the title atSummerSlam, only to lose it back to Bliss eight days later on the August 28, 2017 episode ofRaw.[15][16]
On the March 26 episode ofRaw, after weeks of animosity between the two, including Bayley betraying Banks during their matches,[27][28] they brawled backstage and had to be separated.[29][30] Banks and Bayley faced off in mid-April but their match ended in ano-contest afterThe Riott Squad (Ruby Riott,Sarah Logan, andLiv Morgan) interfered and attacked them both.[31] In the following weeks, Banks competed in different singles[32] and tag team matches in both winning and losing efforts.[33][34] In June, after she defeated Ruby Riott in the finals of a gauntlet match for the last spot,[35][36] Banks competed for the first time in her career in aMoney in the Bank ladder match, that was ultimately won by Alexa Bliss.[37] Throughout mid-2018, after Banks and Bayley continued to attack each other,[38][39] they were told to attend counsellor meetings to help maintain their friendship.[40][41][42] In July, the two reconciled resumed teaming up, dubbing themselves "The Boss 'n' Hug Connection".[43][44][45]
After a short hiatus from the ring due to an undisclosed injury, Banks returned to WWE television in October and took part in the first-ever all women's pay-per-viewEvolution, where she teamed with Bayley andNatalya in a winning effort against The Riott Squad.[46][47][48] In November, Banks again competed atSurvivor Series as part of Team Raw, where she was the last woman from the team that was eliminated byAsuka after an attack by teammateNia Jax.[49]
After WrestleMania, Banks would take a leave from WWE. Although the reason was not addressed by either her or WWE, speculation fromdirt sheets emerged that she was looking to quit the company due to her longstanding frustrations with WWE. Banks held the impression that she and Bayley were going to have a long title reign to bring credibility to the Women's Tag Team Championship, with the two allegedly not being informed until the last minute that they would be dropping the titles at WrestleMania.[53][54] This led Bayley to resume her activities as a singles wrestler, soon being drafted to SmackDown. She would go on to win theMoney in the Bank ladder match at theMoney in the Bank event, before cashing in against Flair later the same night and defeating her for theWWE SmackDown Women's Championship, which Flair herself had just won from Lynch. This also made Bayley the first-everWomen's Triple Crown Champion andWomen's Grand Slam Champion in WWE history.[55][56]
Banks would return to WWE on the August 12 episode ofRaw as aheel, attackingNatalya and donning a new blue hairstyle.[57] On the September 2 episode ofRaw, while Banks was attacking her futureClash of Champions opponent Becky Lynch with a chair, Bayley appeared to interfere, only to attack Lynch with the chair herself, turning heel for the first time in her career and reestablishing her tag team with Banks (although they would not use the "Boss 'n' Hug Connection" monicker anymore). As Banks was still on the Raw roster, the duo would appear on both Raw and SmackDown.[58] AtHell in a Cell, Bayley lost the SmackDown Women's Championship toCharlotte Flair, but regained it five days later on SmackDown. On the same night, Banks wasdrafted toSmackDown, making both part of the same brand again.[59][60] AtStarrcade, the duo competed in a fatal four-way tag team match for the Women's Tag Team Championship, but the match was won by defending championsThe Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane).[61]
In 2020, the team gained significant momentum as the front-runners of the women's division. Continuing to act as heels, they started being referred to as "The Golden Role Models", due to their proclamations of beingrole models for young girls around the world. AtWrestleMania 36, Bayley defended her SmackDown Women's Championship against Banks and three other women in aFatal 5-Way Elimination match, last pinning Lacey Evans with help from Banks to retain.[62] On the June 5, 2020 episode ofSmackDown, Banks and Bayley defeatedAlexa Bliss andNikki Cross, reclaiming theWWE Women's Tag Team Championship for a record-tying second time and making Bayley a double champion.[63] As the Women's Tag Team Titles are defended across all WWE brands, the duo began to compete not only on their home brand of SmackDown, but also on Raw and NXT. During the following months, they defended the Tag Team titles against the likes of Bliss and Cross (SD),The IIconics (Raw), andTegan Nox andShotzi Blackheart (NXT). AtThe Horror Show at Extreme Rules, Bayley retained the SmackDown title against Cross, while Banks challengedAsuka for theRaw Women's Championship in a match which ended with Bayley putting on a referee shirt and counting a cover from Banks before declaring her the winner.Stephanie McMahon, however, proceeded to rule the match as ano contest, meaning Asuka was still officially the champion.[64][65]
On July 20 (aired July 27), Banks faced Asuka once again for the Raw title, in a match where Asuka could lose the title bydisqualification or count-out. During the match, Bayley attacked Asuka's partnerKairi Sane backstage, and Asuka left the match to go help Sane, resulting in Banks winning by count-out and thus winning the Raw Women's Championship for a record-breaking fifth time.[66] With Banks and Bayley concurrently holding the Raw Women's Championship, the SmackDown Women's Championship, and the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, they became the first tag team in history to hold every women's title on Raw and SmackDown simultaneously, as well as the first tag team sinceThe Two-Man Power Trip (Stone Cold Steve Austin andTriple H) to hold all titles in their respective divisions.[67] AtSummerSlam, both Banks and Bayley defended their championships against Asuka. Although Bayley successfully retained the SmackDown Women's Championship, Banks lost the Raw Women's Championship later that night. At thePayback pay-per-view on August 30, Banks and Bayley defended the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship against the newly-formed team ofNia Jax andShayna Baszler, where they lost the titles.[68]
On the September 4 episode ofSmackDown, following a loss to Jax and Baszler in a rematch, Bayley turned on Banks by brutalizing her in the ring, thereby disbanding their team. The two would then feud, culminating in aHell in a Cell match at theHell in a Cell pay-per-view, where Banks defeated Bayley to win her first SmackDown Women's Championship, as well as simultaneously becoming WWE's fourth Women's Triple Crown Champion and third Women's Grand Slam Champion.[69][70] Banks' departure in 2023 ended the chances of a possible reunion, although she debuted inNew Japan Pro Wrestling'sWrestle Kingdom 17 event under her Mercedes Moné name.
Only championships and accomplishments that were achieved while as a tag team are listed. For example, although Sasha Banks is a five-time Raw Women's Champion, only one of those reigns occurred while officially being in a tag team with Bayley.
^abBenigno, Anthony (May 24, 2019)."SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley named Superstar of the Week".WWE. RetrievedMay 28, 2019.But the victory also made Bayley the first Superstar to ever hold theRaw Women's Championship, theSmackDown Women's Championship and theWWE Women's Tag Team Championship — the Women's Grand Slam, if you will.
