Asuka Cleared to Return, Will Compete on WWE Raw Tonight

Raw Women's Champion Asuka was on the receiving end of a nasty kick from Shayna Baszler back on [...]

By Connor Casey

Raw Women's Champion Asuka was on the receiving end of a nasty kick from Shayna Baszler back on the Feb. 22 episode of Raw. The impact resulted in her getting a tooth knocked out, and reports later came out stating she had suffered a concussion during the spot. WWE later confirmed that she was unable to compete, leaving her status for WrestleMania 37 possibly up in the air. But fans of "The Empress" can now rest easy, as WWE confirmed on Monday afternoon that Asuka had been cleared to return to action.

The champ will take on Baszler during tonight's Raw and will undoubtedly try to seek revenge for getting put on the shelf.

Here's what the card for tonight's Raw looks like:

  • Bobby Lashley celebrates the beginning of the "All Mighty Era"
  • Raw Tag Team Championships: The Hurt Business vs. New Day
  • United States Championship: Riddle vs. Mustafa Ali
  • Asuka vs. Shayna Baszler

This week's episode marks the go-home for Fastlane, the final pay-per-view before next month's WrestleMania 37. Here's what's been confirmed for the show so far:

  • WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan (Edge/Jey Uso as Special Guest Enforcer)
  • Intercontinental Championship: Big E vs. Apollo Crews
  • WWE Women's Tag Team Championships: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler vs. Sasha Banks & Bianca Belair

In an interview with ComicBook prior to tonight's episode, Mustafa Ali talked about the importance of winning the US title.

"Obviously Riddle is a stallion as he likes to put it, but what I'm looking at is the United States Championship and what that would mean for me. I'm an American, right? I feel like a lot of people don't see me as an American. They see the name. They know I'm Muslim. They know my wife wears a hijab, a scarf over her head. And I feel like they see that first, rather than they see someone from Chicago. They don't see the former police officer. They don't see a guy that's actually a patriot, a guy that loves this country. They see everything else but that," Ali said. "If I was able to become the United States Champion this Monday, you got to realize these kids at home that have a name like mine, that look like me, they are going to be able to see a guy named Mustafa Ali raise the United State Championship over his head and be announced after the United States Champion. That's going to have an effect on them. These kids named Muhammad, Sayyid, Fatimah They're going to be like, 'Oh, that's our guy and he looks like us.'"

"Representation's always important. I don't think you should earn opportunities just because of a demographic or whatever, but representation, it's important to see yourself, see someone that looks like you doing big things," he continued. "And I think we all know my talent and what I bring to the table. And I don't think anyone deserves the championship, but I think everyone knows that I'm championship material."

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