WWE announced on this week’s episode of Main Event that Asuka would be facing Becky Lynch for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at the Royal Rumble. It seemed strange that it was announced on Main Event of all places, but nowhere else, and now we know why… It appears to have been a mistake.
Paige posted this on Twitter:
Soooo I tried to make one last match before my time as #SDLive GM came to end…but unfortunately @BeckyLynchWWE vs. @WWEAsuka for the Smackdown Women’s Championship is NOT official for #RoyalRumble. #Oops
— PAIGE (@RealPaigeWWE) December 21, 2018
According to John Pollock of Post Wrestling, it was a miscommunication. The match was originally planned, but WWE decided to “re-evaluate” the Royal Rumble card on Tuesday, so the match may or may not happen.
Asuka vs Becky Lynch at the Rumble was the plan and was going to be announced on SmackDown. It was decided Tuesday that the Rumble card would be re-evaluated and the match may or may not happen, but the studio had the old information and used it for Main Event this week
— John Pollock (@iamjohnpollock) December 21, 2018