With just a few hours to go before “Raw” Monday, WWE surprised fans by revealing the scheduled Women’s World Championship match between champion Naomi and challenger IYO Sky was being called off, as Naomi wasn’t medically cleared to compete. To date, the reason why Naomi wasn’t cleared remains a mystery, but her unavailability led to WWE having the shuffle the deck around, not just with short-term plans, but long-term ones as well regarding Asuka.
Those who watched “Raw” will note that Asuka and Sky had a confrontation following Sky’s loss to Roxanne Perez, which caused Asuka to walk out on Sky after. PWInsider Elite reports that while plans have been in place for Asuka to turn on her Damage CTRL stablemate, the turn was originally conceived as a slow burn angle, with Asuka and Sky having a falling out at a later date. Due to Naomi’s absence, the decision was made to move the turn up.
The Sky-Perez match was also a bit of a last minute decision, as WWE initially had discussions about booking a tag match where Perez teamed with Raquel Rodriguez to take on Sky and Rhea Ripley once they learned Naomi wouldn’t be wrestling. It’s unclear why WWE chose to go with a singles match between Perez and Sky instead, or if Asuka’s turn would’ve occurred had the tag match taken place instead.
Regardless, WWE’s decision to speed up Asuka’s heel turn would seem like another suggestion that Naomi will be unavailable for the time being. The Women’s World Champion is scheduled to make an appearance, alongside husband Jimmy Uso, on Stephanie McMahon’s “What’s Your Story?” podcast this Thursday, which some are hoping will clear up Naomi’s status going forward.
