Asuka is said to be semi-retired following her loss to IYO SKY at WWE Backlash on Saturday. The 44-year-old superstar embraced her former mentee after the match, ending months of feuding between the two.
According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, people were wishing Asuka goodbye backstage at the event. While the exact meaning of semi-retired remains unclear, the report suggests a significant change in her WWE status.
So, the story I heard is that she is semi-retired. I haven’t really gotten an exact meaning of what semi-retired means, but I guess people were wishing her goodbye and things like that backstage,” Meltzer said. “So I don’t know if that means she’s going to Japan and still wrestle. I don’t know if that means she’s going to still do stuff here and there, but I was told semi-retired.
Bryan Alvarez responded, “That sucks, I’m going to miss Asuka.”
Possible Connection To Recent Roster Cuts
Later in the show, Meltzer and Alvarez discussed whether Asuka may have been part of WWE’s recent roster cuts. “I wonder if she was with other people that was cut. I mean, I don’t know,” Meltzer said.
Alvarez noted, “I can’t fathom that but I guess it’s possible. But I mean, Kairi was cut and she didn’t even get used to the end of this thing, so.”
Asuka has been with WWE since the summer of 2015. During her time with the company, she’s been a four-time women’s champion on the main roster, a one-time NXT Champion, and has held the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles five times: three with Kairi Sane, and one each with Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss. She won the Women’s Money in the Bank in 2020 and the Women’s Royal Rumble in 2018.
Following the match, IYO SKY posted an emotional tribute on social media thanking Asuka for their time together.
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