Interview: Sasha Banks talks about what it’s like to be in WWE 2K17

With WWE 2K17 less than two weeks away from release, publisher 2K is stepping up their hype raising game.

I attended a WWE 2K17 event last week and got to sit down with superstar Sasha Banks to talk about video games and her career! It turns out that Sasha was a pretty big gamer and is pretty stoked to be in a gamer herself!

A video of that interview is located above, but below is a transcription of what was said. Check it out!

Tom: What is your history with video games? Do you have any particular favorites that you’ve played over the years?

Sasha: I feel that my favorite of all time is Perfect Dark on Nintendo 64. You know that game?

Yes! Of course!

I feel like some people don’t know that game! Oh my gosh. That was one of my favorite games of all time. Do you [remember] the lead character’s name?

Joanna Dark.

Dude. She was so cool! She is one of my favorites. Of course, I love Mario Kart. [Also] one of my favorites. And then wrestling games! I had ECW, I had WCW, I had Smackdown vs. Raw. I had all of them, and I would create my own characters. But now, I don’t have to create my own characters anymore. I am in the game!

So as you mention this is your first WWE appearance. What is it like to play as yourself and see yourself digitally recreated?

It’s a dream come true yet really weird at the same time! That was my first time playing; against AJ [Syles] in the back for a little bit. Just seeing my entrance I was like “Dang. Do I look like that?” and he’s like “Yeah, you swerve your hips all the time like that!” So it’s really cool how they got everything down to a T: my jacket, my glasses, my hair, my gear, my move set. It’s pretty legit!

So you didn’t do any motion capture or anything, they just kind of based it off of what they saw on TV?

I did take pictures for it, but that was it!

There’s a big rivalry between Smackdown and Raw at the moment. Is that going to be played out in the game?

I’m sure because you can pretty much do anything you want in the game! I think Raw is the better brand, even though Smackdown has some pretty incredible talent. So yeah, it’s good for us! We need competition. If I see the girls perform on Tuesday, I can say “Just wait for Monday and watch how The Boss does it.”

Obviously, you’re a big Eddie Guerrero fan. Will we be seeing any Frogsplashes in the game?

Of course! They just announced yesterday that he’s going to be a downloadable character. So not only will I play as him, but I’ll play as myself and do the Frogsplash even better than I did at Wrestlemania. I’m gonna do it again in a match soon.

Other than yourself and Eddie, what other characters are you looking forward to playing as?

I’m excited to play as Bayley! I think that’s going to be different for me. I think that’d be cool. I guess all the four horsewomen! That’s going to be cool to see all of us together. We can have a fatal four way again! At a Wrestlemania arena! Ooh, Orlando? Maybe I’ll choose that one! I want to be AJ Styles. Nakamura! He’s so cool.