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Get all WWE Royal Rumble 2019 live commentary, live updates, and highlights here
Asuka defends her SmackDown Women's Championship against Becky Lynch in just over a week's time at the 2019 Royal Rumble, just a year after The Empress of Tomorrow was the first ever winner of the Women's Royal Rumble.
Asuka went on to have quite an underwhelming year following her loss to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania before her career picked back up in December when she won the SmackDown Women's Championship as part of the inaugural Women's TLC match.
SmackDown Live had been dominated by Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch over the past few months, but now Asuka is on top and finally, it could be time for The Empress of Tomorrow to prove her worth and brush aside The Lasskicker one-on-one.
Here are just four potential finishes for their match next Sunday night in Chase Field, Phoenix.
#4 Asuka retains her SmackDown Women's Championship
Asuka only won the SmackDown Women's Championship because Ronda Rousey interfered in her match and cost both Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch the title. The Empress of Tomorrow is fully aware of this fact and has been pushing to prove her worth ever since TLC.
The only way Asuka can prove that she is a worthy Champion is by defeating former Champion Becky Lynch in a one-on-one match so that she can then move on to other challengers on the SmackDown brand.
Asuka was once undefeated for more than two years. She has also held the NXT Women's Championship and won the first ever Women's Royal Rumble; just because she had a lackluster 2018 doesn't mean that she no longer has what it takes to be taken seriously in a match of this caliber.
#3 Becky Lynch wins the Women's Championship for the third time
Becky Lynch changed the face of SmackDown Live whilst she was holding the SmackDown Women's Championship. She called herself The Man and she invaded Monday Night Raw before she was sent back home by Nia Jax after a huge botch.
Despite this, Lynch was the most talked about star in WWE and the Women's Championship was elevated to the point where it was able to main event the TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view back in December.
Lynch is aware that she is now a draw and so are WWE, which is why it's hard to believe that she would lose the match to Asuka clean. If anything, Lynch could win back the SmackDown Women's Championship and then enter The Royal Rumble match and look for a way to face Ronda Rousey so that she can unify both titles because she's that kind of superstar.
#2. Retaliation could be on the cards
The order of matches for The Royal Rumble is not yet known, which leaves WWE with a lot of options. Since Lynch currently has a problem with Ronda Rousey, she could interfere in her match with Sasha Banks because she wants to make her pay for losing her Women's Championship.
If Rousey's Championship match is broadcast before Lynch's against Asuka, then it's likely that Rousey will be looking for some form of retribution and when she does, Lynch will be forced to enter The Royal Rumble so that she has the chance to go on and main event WrestleMania against Rousey. This would be the best form of revenge for Lynch and it would mean that the women would be the main talking point of the show once again.
#1 The IIconic's send a clear message to Asuka and Becky Lynch
The IIconic's will be in Phoenix on Sunday night because they are part of The Royal Rumble match, but after the events that transpired this week on SmackDown Live, it's easy to see why the two women would want some revenge.
Peyton Royce was used as a warm-up for Lynch ahead of her match with Asuka this weekend and was then tossed aside. Both Royce and Billie Kay fancy themselves as the first ever Women's Tag Team Champions, so they need to step up their game.
Since The IIconics are heels, there is nothing stopping them from interfering in the match and sending a clear message to any woman in the WWE locker room who is thinking of throwing their hat into the ring for those Tag Team Championships.
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