Asuka and Kairi Sane say they were on standby to fill a spot at WWE WrestleMania 42.
The status of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match at WrestleMania 42 was up in the air before the PLE due to Nikki Bella’s injury. While Paige eventually returned and replaced Nikki as Brie Bella’s partner at the event, Asuka and Kairi Sane revealed they were on standby to fill in.
Asuka and Kairi Sane noted in an interview with NeitroV before the event that they had new ring gears ready for WrestleMania 42, and remained hopeful they would get the opportunity.
Kairi Sane: Rumor has it that Nikki Bella’s ankle injury hasn’t fully recovered yet.
Asuka: Right, right! We were told we might be able to fill in for that match. So we were on standby just in case.
Kairi Sane: But the chances aren’t zero yet, right?
Asuka: Exactly. It might still be possible, so we’re staying ready and waiting.
Kairi Sane: We’ve actually prepared brand new ring gear just for WrestleMania.
Asuka was also planned for a match with IYO Sky at WrestleMania 42
WWE also teased a showdown between Asuka and IYO Sky at WrestleMania 42. Asuka called out Sky on RAW, and the latter replied on social media with a challenge to a match at the PLE, but later deleted the post.
Dave Meltzer then noted on a recent episode of Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE could probably move the Asuka vs. IYO Sky match for the Backlash PLE next month.
“A couple days ago she put up something on social media, which is basically a challenge. ‘Asuka I challenge you for WrestleMania.’ So at that point when she put that up. It’s like okay, they’re going to do the match and they’re going to announce the match on Monday cause she’s put up the challenge. You would never do that unless you were told to do it right? So today she took it down. No one has told me it’s dead,” Meltzer said (via Wrestling Inc.) “The last I heard was that it could happen, but it would probably be moved to Backlash. But it’s not like it’s for sure that it’s going to be moved to Backlash.”
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