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On paper, Elimination Chamber looks like a lacklustre PPV with just six announced matches and the absence of many top Superstars has not helped the show's prospects either.
To make matters worse, Asuka is also out with a legitimate injury, as reported by Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp.
Sapp was a special guest on Sportskeeda's Elimination Chamber Preview show with SK's very own Gary Cassidy, and while discussing the Women's Elimination Chamber match, SRS revealed that Asuka is dealing with a wrist injury.
SRS explained that WWE has a history of disguising real injuries with kayfabe, and he didn't see the reasoning behind WWE's decision to do it in Asuka's case. Sapp added that while the WWE management expects the former NXT Women's Champion to be cleared for the Chamber match, Kairi Sane is on stand-by to be the replacement if Asuka is not ready.
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Here's what Ross had to share about Asuka's status:
Based on the people I talked to last night, she did have a legitimate wrist injury but WWE likes to kayfabe that stuff a lot. Like they will put out bad information on purpose about specific injuries, but I couldn’t see why they would protect that one necessarily. I was told that she’s expected to be back but if she’s not then they will just put Kairi in there.
The Empress of Tomorrow was originally scheduled to face Shayna Baszler on the most recent episode of RAW. However, hours before the show, WWE pulled Asuka from the match and announced Kairi Sane as Baszler's first opponent on RAW.
The Queen of Spades is the favourite to win the Elimination Chamber match that has been booked to determine Becky Lynch's WrestleMania opponent. Apart from Baszler, the other listed competitors for the match include Natalya, Sarah Logan, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan and Asuka.
WWE needs Asuka to be fit for the Chamber as she is one of the best workers in the company and her inclusion is pivotal to ensure that the match successfully gets over with the fans.
