4 women who are ready for Asuka at WrestleMania 35

It's no secret that the Empress of Tomorrow has been sidelined by WWE over the course of the past few weeks, most notably after her excellent match with Becky Lynch at the Royal Rumble PPV. WWE is going all the way with promoting the main event of WrestleMania 35,(the Raw Women's title match), and have completely forgotten that they need to build Asuka's storyline heading into the show of shows.

This past week on SmackDown, we finally got to see Asuka make a comeback and face Mandy Rose. Surprisingly, Mandy pinned Asuka in the middle of the ring, in a rare occurrence. Thanks to her win, Mandy has secured an opportunity to face Asuka again at Fastane, this time for the gold. As we're getting closer to the grandest stage of them all, speculations are running wild on the possible opponent for Asuka at WrestleMania.

There's also the chance of WWE taking the easy route and schedule a multi-women match for the SmackDown Women's title, which doesn't need much build up except a bunch of women beating the tar out of each other for weeks until WrestleMania.

Here are four women who are as ready as they've ever been, to face Asuka at MetLife Stadium for the Women's gold.

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#3 Nikki Cross

Cross, one of the most unique characters in recent memory

Cross was destined to make an impact on the main roster ever since she was showcased as the bizarre nutjob who could put on great matches to compensate for her erratic behaviour. Her antics against the likes of Tommaso Chiampa fueled her popularity down in developmental, and she was finally sent to the main roster.

Although Nikki's Royal Rumble outing left much to be desired, she is holding her own on the main roster. She recently sent a tweet that was addressed to The Empress of Tomorrow, and it made fans wonder whether this was WWE planting the seeds for a WrestleMania match between the two women.

Nikki's tweet to Asuka

Asuka and Cross have battled each other in the past, and as is the case with most bouts on NXT, they stole the show, leaving fans wanting for more. Are we going to see the much-anticipated rematch at the show of shows?

#2 Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville

Is another triple threat match on the horizon?

When Paige retired from active competition, fans wondered whether Mandy and Sonya would be able to hold their own on the already stacked women's roster. To the WWE Universe's amazement, the duo managed to turn eyes on several occasions. Their outing in the Tag Team Elimination Chamber match was a sight to marvel.

Mandy and Sonya were this close to becoming the first ever Women's tag team champions, but Banks and Bayley were just a tad bit better than them on that night.

Now that Rose has gotten an opportunity to face Asuka at Fastlane, will we be seeing a long term program involving the trio, where WWE inserts Mandy's partner into the fold, resulting in another triple threat women's title match at the show of shows? The match could open up interesting possibilities, one of them being a rift between Rose and Deville, coming out of the grandest stage of them all.

#1 Lacey Evans

Evans, a rumoured opponent for Asuka at Mania

The Lady of WWE, and one of the fastest rising stars in NXT, Lacey Evans has been the talk of the town since the past several weeks. Her appearance at the Royal Rumble was well received by the sea of fans inside the arena, and she has made several appearances since then on both brands.

Lacey first appeared on Monday Night Raw, when she interrupted Alexa Bliss' on her talk show, "Moment of Bliss". She interrupted the match between Mandy and Asuka this past week on SmackDown.

It's still not clear what are WWE's plans with her, but if rumours are to be believed, Lacey is set to challenge Asuka for the SmackDown Women's title at WrestleMania 35. If this is what WWE wants to go with, they need to build things in a rush, as Fastlane is almost upon us. Once Asuka disposes of Mandy Rose, let Lacey attack Asuka on SmackDown, kicking off the build-up to an eventual Mania matchup.