Major Update About Asuka Moving To ‘SmackDown Live’ After ‘WrestleMania 34’
After winning the first Women’s Royal Rumble in WWE history, Asuka had the choice to challenge Alexa Bliss or Charlotte Flair for the Raw or SmackDown Women’s Championship on the grandest stage of them all. WWE officials decided it was better for Nia Jax to challenge Bliss, which also set up Asuka vs. Charlotte in New Orleans. The build hasn’t been great, but The Queen vs. The Empress should be something special.
It’s been reported that Asuka is expected to capture the SmackDown Women’s Title from Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 34 and WWE officials already have a plan for her to face Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania 35 next year. Since The Empress of Tomorrow is expected to hold onto the SmackDown Women’s Title for the foreseeable future, it seemed obvious that she would be moving to “the blue brand” after the grandest stage of them all. However, CageSideSeats is reporting a confusing plan for Raw live events after WrestleMania.
In April and May, Raw’s house shows are currently advertising matches between Asuka and Nia Jax. That’s really confusing because the expectation is Nia Jax and Asuka will be the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Champions after WrestleMania 34. Those matches could be champion versus champion, but that would be odd for live events to have those matches even with the company looking to do more dual branded shows.
Other explanations would be for Nia Jax and Asuka to stay on Raw even after the “Superstar Shakeup,” but that means Bliss would likely retain the Raw Women’s Title at WrestleMania. If Bliss retains, Nia Jax could move to SmackDown Live during the “Shakeup.” However, that does not explain why Asuka vs. Jax would be advertised for Raw’s live events. On paper, it seems that WWE officials will benefit from the “the card is subject to change” rule unless Asuka loses her match to Charlotte, or Carmella cashes in her briefcase soon.
If that’s the case, the matchup of Asuka vs. Nia Jax makes a lot of sense because Jax would defend the Raw Women’s Title against The Empress of Tomorrow during those events. Asuka’s undefeated streak coming to an end would be a shocking turn of events since WWE officials were not expected to end her run until at least WrestleMania 35. If Asuka vs. Nia Jax is the plan after WrestleMania, the WWE Universe can expect some huge moments on the grandest stage of them all that will drastically change the Women’s division.
