On WWE Main Event this past week, the company revealed that Becky Lynch would challenge Asuka for the SmackDown Live women’s title at the Royal Rumble.
However, those plans have apparently been scrapped.
Shortly after the announcement was made, Paige took to Twitter and claimed that she had made the match before she lost her job as the general manager of SmackDown Live so it is not official.
Soooo I tried to make one last match before my time as #SDLive GM came to end…but unfortunately @BeckyLynchWWE vs. @WWEAsuka for the Smackdown Women’s Championship is NOT official for #RoyalRumble. #Oops
— PAIGE (@RealPaigeWWE) December 21, 2018
This plays off the idea that the WWE has chosen not to have general managers for either Monday Night Raw or SmackDown Live in their attempt to “listen to the fans” and start a new era heading into 2019.
Of course, in real life, there were plans for Becky Lynch vs. Asuka at the Royal Rumble but those are now not assured.
According to John Pollock of Post Wrestling, the plans for this match were scrapped for now, along with everything else on the Royal Rumble card.
The WWE is supposed to be making wholesale changes and there is a “major event” planned to kick off 2019 to try to win back viewers who had left during 2018.
Pollock said that this was just a case of the studio using old information for their promo material on WWE Main Event and the WWE had to create a storyline reason why they were changing things up.
Asuka vs Becky Lynch at the Rumble was the plan and was going to be announced on SmackDown. It was decided Tuesday that the Rumble card would be re-evaluated and the match may or may not happen, but the studio had the old information and used it for Main Event this week
— John Pollock (@iamjohnpollock) December 21, 2018
One idea that many fans have dreamed of is Becky Lynch winning the women’s Royal Rumble match and then challenging Ronda Rousey instead Asuka for WrestleMania.
For now, there is no word on who Asuka will defend her title against at the Royal Rumble because everything in the WWE is changing.