Asuka Planned for Raw Despite Retirement Rumors

Asuka’s WWE future has been the most talked-about topic in wrestling since Saturday night — and now, just hours before Raw, there’s finally something concrete to hold onto.

According to Fightful Select, the Empress of Tomorrow is planned for tonight’s episode of WWE Raw, live from the Food City Center in Knoxville, Tennessee on Netflix. She will be taking some time off, that part is confirmed — but the key detail is that this absence has been in the works internally for a while and has nothing to do with the wave of roster cuts that followed WrestleMania 42, which included the release of her longtime Kabuki Warriors partner Kairi Sane.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson also reported that Asuka was physically present in Knoxville ahead of the show and ready to appear if WWE creative called for it, adding that she is believed to remain “aligned with the company.” Johnson did note a story making the rounds within some WWE circles that Asuka could be returning to Japan to handle a family matter, but stressed that report had not been confirmed and that her presence in Knoxville complicated that narrative considerably.

What Actually Happened at Backlash

The speculation started Saturday night at WWE Backlash in Tampa, Florida, where Asuka and IYO SKY delivered a match that tore the house down. The two traded submissions, reversed each other’s signature moves, and went nearly twenty minutes in a deeply personal student-versus-teacher showdown that the crowd inside the Benchmark International Arena was completely locked into. SKY ultimately got the win, pinning Asuka with a German suplex and moonsault combination.

What happened next is what set the internet on fire. Rather than simply walking to the back, Asuka embraced SKY in the ring, tears in her eyes, before repeatedly waving to the crowd. She blew a kiss. She rolled out slowly while the fans showered her with appreciation. It felt, unmistakably, like a goodbye.

Big E didn’t help quiet the speculation during the Backlash post-show. “I wonder if this is a goodbye,” he said. “I haven’t really seen Asuka this emotional. If this is goodbye, I know she will be dearly missed. She has been a pioneer. She has done just truly incredible things in the ring before she even got to WWE, but has further staked her claim as an all-time great here in WWE.”

Backstage, the mood was just as unclear as it was for fans watching at home. Fightful Select reported that Asuka’s situation appeared to be “a mystery to the locker room, and to a number of people around the creative process, who weren’t sure if this was actually a goodbye.” Even people inside WWE creative were reportedly uncertain whether the emotional scene was an official farewell angle or simply the natural conclusion to a feud.

The “Semi-Retired” Confusion

Dave Meltzer added fuel to the fire on Wrestling Observer Radio after the show, saying he’d been told Asuka is now “semi-retired” — while openly admitting he wasn’t entirely sure what that meant in practice.

“So, the story I heard is that she is semi-retired,” Meltzer said. “I haven’t really gotten an exact meaning of what semi-retired means, but I guess people were wishing her goodbye and things like that backstage. So I don’t know if that means she’s going to Japan and still wrestle. I don’t know if that means she’s going to still do stuff here and there, but I was told semi-retired.”

His co-host Bryan Alvarez simply replied, “That sucks, I’m going to miss Asuka.”

Meltzer and Alvarez even speculated out loud about whether Asuka could have been part of the recent WWE roster cuts — a theory that has since been walked back by multiple outlets. Bodyslam.net’s Viper pushed back on the retirement framing altogether, reporting that Asuka is “out indefinitely” for personal reasons and that, as of the night of Backlash, retirement or semi-retirement “is not the case.”

So for a full day, the wrestling world was essentially dealing with Schrödinger’s Asuka — simultaneously retired and not retired, depending on which report you were reading.

What Fightful’s reporting clarified is that everyone they spoke to believes Backlash was not Asuka’s final match. That was described as a unanimous belief among those in the locker room and around creative. One WWE higher-up told Fightful she was “always reliable no matter what was thrown her way” — the kind of praise you don’t typically offer someone you’re writing off.

Her Contract and What Comes Next

There’s also the matter of Asuka’s contract. Fightful confirmed she signed a new long-term WWE deal in the summer of 2024. The exact length hasn’t been disclosed publicly, but most deals signed during that period were reportedly for five years — which would make a full retirement right now a complicated proposition.

There has been broader reporting that TKO has been working to restructure some talent deals as the company’s live event schedule has shifted dramatically, with house shows significantly reduced and performers working far fewer dates than previous generations. Whether Asuka’s situation intersects with any of those restructuring conversations isn’t confirmed.

What is confirmed: she’s not among the released talent. That list, which dropped on April 24, included Kairi Sane — and that release has been its own source of frustration backstage. Multiple sources told Fightful there was significant disappointment over WWE investing television time into the Asuka-Kairi storyline without ever paying off Kairi’s role in the arc. The Tampa crowd chanted “We Want Kairi” during the Backlash match itself, which tells you everything about how that decision landed with fans. Whether Asuka shared those frustrations internally was not confirmed.

The Tributes Keep Coming

While the reports swirled, the wrestling world didn’t wait for an official announcement to show Asuka how they feel.

IYO SKY posted an emotional message after the show, calling their Backlash match the conclusion of their shared story. “Our story comes to its final chapter with today’s match,” SKY wrote. “The moment the match ended, my heart was filled with all sorts of emotions. Meeting ASUKA-san, spending the same time together, being able to learn so much up close — these are irreplaceable treasures to me. Thank you so much ASUKA-san. We love you ASUKA-san.”

AJ Styles, who retired from in-ring competition himself earlier this year at the Royal Rumble, posted a photo of himself and Asuka from his own retirement segment on Raw with a simple, direct message: “I don’t know the facts, but I know @wwe_asuka will be a Hall of Famer.”

Bayley called Asuka and IYO SKY “two of the rarest wrestlers in the entire world.” Rhea Ripley praised the match itself, writing, “Phenomenal! Best of the best!” Natalya said you could “feel their passion” in every moment. Michin kept it short and sweet: “We love Asuka around here.” Charlotte Flair and Shinsuke Nakamura both posted photos of her — and when a fan asked Flair what her post implied, she simply said she was “just a fan.”

Even Ash By Elegance from TNA Wrestling weighed in, noting she was “blessed” to have been Asuka’s first match in WWE: “Honored… Legend! Sexy muscle friend.”

For a performer who joined WWE in 2015, went undefeated for 914 days, became the inaugural Women’s Royal Rumble winner, and collected four main roster Women’s Championships, one NXT Women’s title, five Women’s Tag Team reigns, a Money in the Bank briefcase, and a Grand Slam — the outpouring makes complete sense. Asuka is, by any measure, one of the most decorated women in WWE history.

Tonight’s Raw will tell us something. Whether Asuka appears on screen, addresses the crowd, or simply works the show without appearing on camera, her presence in Knoxville means this story isn’t finished yet. The Empress isn’t done — she’s just taking a breath.