There were a bunch of returns, but some didn’t happen-so now we know why Asuka missed the Royal Rumble. Plus there is more insight to the Saturday chaos that apparently plagued the women’s match in particular.
Why Asuka Missed Royal Rumble
While some surprises were ruined, some seemed easy to predict. So, you might be wondering why Asuka missed the Royal Rumble.
Now, we can shed some light on that.
According to Fightful, WWE officials did not feel that Asuka was medically capable of working the Rumble match on Saturday.
In the weeks and months leading up to the event, the Empress of Tomorrow seemed like a virtual lock for the event.
Out since last summer due to injury, many fans had Asuka pegged for a Royal Rumble return. As we know now, she missed the Rumble.
Not being medically cleared is a good reason to miss it. Or, even if cleared, if WWE has bigger plans for her (or just as likely, no plans for her), then there was no incentive to bring her back too fast.
Still, it would have been great to see WWE bring back another top tier women’s Superstar. A talent like Asuka allows the company to push new matches and give fans some fresh feuds.
source: @thedroidman123, twitter, screenshot
Instead, we got quite a few one off nostalgia acts, nearly all of which were eliminated rapidly. This is what happens when you release too much talent…
Just one more reason why Saturday’s Rumbles-men’s and women’s-are not being rated very highly.
More Insight To Saturday Chaos
Speaking of the overall quality of the Rumble matches, we have some more insight into the Saturday chaos.
Previously, we had reported that there were issues with the men’s match, specifically surrounding Shane McMahon.
Now, the issues are being revealed that impacted the women’s Royal Rumble match.
According to Fightful, at least some of the issues may relate to a change in producers.
Per the report, Fit Finlay was brought in to help produce the match. He was not the only producer involved.
However, one person who was not involved in the match? Tyson Kidd.
It was reported that Kidd has not been producing matches for several weeks. You may recall that Kidd is well liked and respected among the women.
He has been one of the more involved producers, working on many of the better women’s division matches WWE has given us.
His absence on Saturday was felt by the participants.
source: @whoisvindictive, twitter, screenshot
Per the report, the women’s match had a great deal of chaos, and it was noticed during the walk through the day prior.
Comments from talent indicated some felt the chaos was in part due to the absence of Kidd. Other comments laid at least some blame on WWE’s over-reliance on part time talent and rusty former Superstars.
In one more interesting observation, the story also indicated that at least one talent declined to work the match, once she learned that Tyson Kidd would not be producing it.
That speaks volumes about the level of respect Kidd carries among the locker room. It may also be troubling that the other producers involved do not hold similar sway, or could not pick up the slack.
For now, Kidd is still employed by WWE (as is his wife). There has been no explanation for why he missed the Rumble, but we hope he’s back soon.
