Current World Champion and Former Rival Calls Out Asuka for Final Match

Asuka's status in WWE is up in the air after what appeared to be a retirement match at the Backlash PLE last weekend.

At the event in Tampa, Asuka wrestled Iyo Sky after a long feud with one another in what was arguably the best on the show. Sky defeated Asuka to get the victory and end the feud.

While the outcome was notable, the more newsworthy events took place after the match. In the ring, Sky and Asuka hugged one another and gave each other respect. This interaction was outside the bounds of their storyline together.

Asuka had tears in her eyes as Sky thanked her. Sensing that something was afoot, the audience started to pay attention and cheered Asuka. Asuka then acknowledged the fans with a few waves before leaving the ring.

On the Backlash post-show, Big E suggested that Asuka wrestled her final match. On top of that, various WWE Superstars from the women's division took to social media that night and reacted to Asuka's behavior.

The following night on Raw, Asuka donned her original face paint from her WWE debut nearly a decade ago. Again, she hugged Sky on camera and seemingly left the WWE for the last time.

Is Asuka retired from wrestling? Just retired from WWE? Wrestling fans will know soon enough. If Asuka has a match outside of WWE, Athena wants it to be with her.

Athena wants another match with Asuka

In a new interview with Fightful, Athena called out Asuka for a match outside WWE. This would renew a rivalry that formed not only in NXT but also prior to both women's arrival in WWE.

“I feel like I have to have one more match (against Asuka) eventually and hope that this isn’t it," Athena said. "This isn’t the long goodbye, if you will."

Athena credited Asuka with developing her into the wrestler she is and said she doesn't think she would have had the success throughout her career if it weren't for working with Asuka.

"Asuka is one of those people that’s a forever rival for me," Athena said. "Like, when we were back on the indies, we actually ended up wrestling at Shimmer Women’s Wrestling. That’s where we met. We had one of the hardest-hitting matches I think I’ve had in my career, then fast forward to WWE NXT for the NXT Women’s Championship. Asuka is the yin to my yang."

Both Asuka and Athena are former NXT Women's Champions. The two women had multiple matches for that championship during their heyday, the black and gold era of NXT. This included a showdown at the third NXT TakeOver Brooklyn event.

While Asuka doesn't have any upcoming matches scheduled, Athena has been the current ROH Women's World Champion since 2022. She is set to defend that championship against Maya World, Trish Adora, Yuka Sakazaki, Billie Starkz, and Zayda Steel in a Survival of the Fittest match at ROH Supercard of Honor this weekend.

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