Potential reason for Asuka's absence from The Royal Rumble - Reports

Many expected Asuka to return to WWE last week at the Royal Rumble, but the match came and went without The Empress of Tomorrow. So what happened?

According to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select, while Asuka's name was discussed about returning for the Women's Rumble match, the company didn't believe she was "physically ready" to return.

Asuka hasn't been seen on WWE programming since the 2021 Money in the Bank pay-per-view, where she was reportedly injured and hasn't been seen since. There have been photos since that have seen her arm in a cast-like device, so it appears her injury was quite serious to be out of action for this long.

Several names were either discussed or brought in for the Royal Rumble but weren't used

Asuka's former tag team partner in The Kabuki Warriors, Kairi Sane, was also discussed to appear in this year's Women's Rumble match. But SRS was told that her currently living in Japan made it easier for the company to bring other women in instead.

WWE also went out of their way to bring several men and women to St. Louis as alternatives and backups. The company, however, didn't need to end up using any of them as the talent for both Rumble matches were healthy and cleared to compete.

Names brought in for Royal Rumble weekend and not used include:

• Aksana
• Apollo Crews
• Cedric Alexander
• Jillian Hall
• R-Truth
• Shelton Benjamin

While there's a chance that other names were brought in as well, these are the names that Fightful has been able to confirm.

What are your thoughts on the Asuka news? When are you hoping to see her back on WWE programming? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.