{"id":84403,"date":"2021-02-05T13:00:12","date_gmt":"2021-02-05T18:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=84403"},"modified":"2021-02-05T09:54:21","modified_gmt":"2021-02-05T14:54:21","slug":"who-challenge-asuka-wrestlemania-37","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/02\/05\/who-challenge-asuka-wrestlemania-37\/","title":{"rendered":"Possible Challengers for Asuka at WrestleMania 37"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bianca Belair<\/strong> won the 2021 edition of the Women\u2019s Royal Rumble and fans were nothing but receptive. In that victory, Bianca became the first African-American woman to win the match and cemented her name in the record books. \u00a0If reports and recent events are to go by, Belair will probably call her shot and challenge reigning SmackDown Women\u2019s Champion Sasha Banks<\/strong>. Their styles and promo work will be a fun exchange that\u2019s why fans are leaning heavily on the matchup to happen. If Bianca does pick Banks it leaves one champion without a challenger, but who could challenge Asuka?<\/p>\n

Over on the Red brand, RAW Women\u2019s Champion Asuka<\/strong> is still left without an opponent for the Show of Shows. \u201cThe Empress of Tomorrow\u201d is in the middle of reaching 200 days in her time as champion. As of right now, there is no clear contender for Asuka\u2019s Women\u2019s Championship but it is certain the \u201cRoad to WrestleMania\u201d will produce a number of willing and deserving challengers. The following women might have higher stakes to their claim to be the one to dethrone the Empress.<\/p>\n

Naomi<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Fans have been \u201cFeeling the Glow\u201d of Naomi for years now. She is a fan-favorite, to say the least. Her athletic ability and natural charisma are what make her so beloved by the WWE Universe. Naomi\u2019s win at WrestleMania 33<\/em> for the SmackDown Women\u2019s Championship in front of her home crowd was nothing short of spectacular. She recently made her return at the Royal Rumbl<\/strong>e and on Monday Night RAW. Naomi and her partner Lana<\/strong> won a # 1 Contender\u2019s match for the right to challenge the Women\u2019s Tag-Champions. She might be jewelry-hunting and is just itching to feel what it’s like to be a champion again the same way she did at WrestleMania all those years ago. Asuka better have eyes in the back of her head because Naomi might want more Gold to heighten her Glow.<\/p>\n

Alexa Bliss<\/h2>\n

\"Alexa<\/p>\n

The Fiend\u2019s favorite playmate has been toying and terrorizing Asuka for a little while now. She recently challenged for the RAW Women\u2019s Championship but ultimately fell short. Alexa Bliss has been a terrifying presence on Monday Nights. And as evidenced by her obsession to get Randy Orton back for what he did to Bray Wyatt, Bliss does not forget easily. Alexa Bliss is a wildcard in the Women\u2019s Championship picture over on RAW. But the former \u201cGoddess\u201d might not just be out for blood but also gold.<\/p>\n

Charlotte Flair<\/h2>\n

\"Four<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Queen\u201d was immediately a champion upon returning from her hiatus. And no less Asuka was her partner in winning the WWE Women\u2019s Tag-Team Championship. In a forgotten segment the following Monday Night RAW after Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2021, Charlotte seemed like she was about to cash in on a favor. Flair helped the Empress now it\u2019s time to repay her debt. But the segment was cut short and it was nothing but a footnote in everyone\u2019s consciousness.<\/p>\n

Charlotte being the master tactician that she is might still have that at the back of her mind. Flair might just be picking her spots before she inevitably strikes. Charlotte has no doubt been thinking of a WrestleMania rematch with her tag-team partner. The hurdle standing in her way is her own Father Ric Flair and Lacey Evans<\/strong>. WWE has been heavily teasing a possible match between Flair and Evans for close to a month now at WrestleMania. And while it seems they\u2019re going down that path. Fans are just going to have to wait and see.<\/p>\n

Io Shirai<\/h2>\n

\"Io<\/p>\n

Fellow Japanese star Io Shirai has been wreaking havoc on the NXT Women\u2019s division for 200+ days now. As the division and brand\u2019s top champion, Shirai has been virtually unbeatable. She has defeated everyone who tried to take the Women\u2019s Championship and overcame them convincingly. Io\u2019s toughest test to date will undoubtedly come in the form of Toni Storm<\/strong> and Mercedes Martinez<\/strong>. At the upcoming NXT Takeover called \u201cVengeance Day\u201d, Shirai will defend her championship against two of her top rivals in a Triple-Threat Match.<\/p>\n

Hypothetically speaking, what if Storm or Martinez would be too much for Io Shirai to handle and she loses the title to one of them? Maybe Shirai would feel she has nothing left to prove in the Black and Yellow Brand. She has done all she can and it\u2019s time to move on to a new challenge. What\u2019s more challenging than prying away the RAW Women\u2019s Title from Asuka? In a WrestleMania Main Event-worthy match, the two would have a clinic against one another. Fans are clamoring for this matchup and they don\u2019t even realize it yet.<\/p>\n

Also, \u201cNXT: Vengeance Day: will be on the 14th<\/sup> of February while \u201cElimination Chamber 2021\u201d will be held on the 21st<\/sup> of the same month.\u00a0 Maybe, just maybe, Io Shirai takes it upon herself and enters the Chamber Match, Who knows? Everyone should keep a watchful eye on the \u201cGenius of the Skies\u201d.<\/p>\n

Rhea Ripley<\/h2>\n

\"Who<\/p>\n

Fans were extremely happy when Bianca Belair won, but the last two women in the rumble match were her and this woman, Rhea Ripley. The Wrestling community would\u2019ve been equally as ecstatic if she had won. And this is why she should be the one to challenge Asuka at WrestleMania. A charismatic powerhouse, Ripley has \u201cmegastar\u201d written all over her and she\u2019s only 24-years old. She had her first taste of the big time last year when she defended and lost the NXT Women\u2019s Championship to another woman on this list Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 36. It\u2019s about damn time Rhea Ripley gets one more try at the \u201cShowcase of the Immortals\u201d to etch her name in the history books.<\/p>\n

Rhea is ready now more than ever. After that strong showing at the Royal Rumble, she\u2019s in line for bigger things. What\u2019s bigger than a shot at a championship at WrestleMania against one of the greatest wrestlers this world has ever seen? Rhea Ripley is indeed ready for Asuka and she\u2019s not waiting any longer. The real question here fans should ask, Is Asuka ready to feel Ripley\u2019s brutality?<\/p>\n

Stay tuned to the\u00a0Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.\u00a0 And subscribe to the\u00a0WWE Network<\/a> to see all the action from the WWE.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bianca Belair won the 2021 edition of the Women\u2019s Royal Rumble and fans were nothing but receptive. In that victory, Bianca became the first African-American woman to win the match and cemented her name in the record books. \u00a0If reports and recent events are to go by, Belair will probably call her shot and challenge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3735,"featured_media":77200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2192,25,26,4,5,3,320],"tags":[229,401,396,7294],"class_list":["post-84403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wrestling","category-raw","category-smackdown","category-wwe","category-nxt","category-wwe-universe","category-wwe-women","tag-asuka","tag-raw-womens-championship","tag-wrestlemania","tag-wwe-analysis"],"modified_by":"Alex Richards, LWOF Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3735"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}