Rumor Killer on Asuka Allegedly Walking Out on WWE
Despite what you may have read on social media, there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that [...]
Despite what you may have read on social media, there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that Asuka has walked out and quit WWE.
For some reason, a "report" started making the rounds on social media on Saturday morning that Asuka had essentially quit WWE following frustration at this week's SmackDown Live. The story was "sourced" to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, who never actually reported such a thing.
The fake story claimed that Asuka was mad about missing out on a big pay day by not being booked in the SmackDown Women's Championship match at SummerSlam. It went on to falsely say that she had stopped returning calls from WWE.
The rumor started picking up so much traction that Johnson had to comment publicly on his social media page about the incorrect report mistakenly being sourced to him.
I have not reported anything about @WWEAsuka leaving @WWE and any website or social media account that claims that I have, is lying to you. Stop supporting people that lie to you. Everything that I say and everything that I report is on @PWInsidercom.
— Mike Johnson (@MikePWInsider) August 11, 2018
It certainly is surprising that Asuka hasn't been booked in a stronger fashion heading into the second biggest show of the year. She came up to the main roster with quite a bit of momentum given her undefeated streak in NXT. That momentum was quickly halted following her surprising loss to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania in New Orleans.
Since that loss, she has struggled to find her way on the main roster. There are reportedly still plans for her to be in a prominent spot in the women's division by the end of this year and heading into WrestleMania 35 season, but the company will need to come up with something creative for her to do in the mean time fast. Throwaway matches on SmackDown aren't going to help matters, she needs to be put in a situation of some importance before she continues to sink even lower down the card to the point that nobody will be interested in her jumping back into a main event program.
Charlotte vs. Asuka is obviously a match they still need to follow up on given the WrestleMania match earlier this year. Perhaps if Flair walks out of SummerSlam with the title, an Asuka feud will be on the horizon.