Reason Royal Rumble Match Was Pulled, Kassius Ohno Denies Rumor

– Paige sent out a tweet where she announced SmackDown Women’s Champion Asuka would battle Becky Lynch at the Royal Rumble. Not much later, WWE stated the match was not official and it was pulled from the card. Below, Paige explains why the match was pulled.

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 the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there is no final decision if the match will happen. The original plan was to announce the title match on SmackDown, but WWE decided to wait as they are re-evaluating the card. The uncertainty could be due to the McMahon family’s announcement on RAW that they were going to do a better job listening to fans and start fresh.

At TLC, Asuka won the title in the first ever female Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match that also involved Lynch and Charlotte Flair. The ending saw Lynch and Flair climb the ladder before RAW’s Ronda Rousey knocked them off; allowing Asuka to secure the gold.

– There was a rumor going around that Kassius Ohno was accepting future bookings and appearances; which indicated that he was leaving NXT. Ohno took to Twitter to deny the rumor.

You couldn’t be more wrong. Get better sources!

First time I’m hearing of @BodyslamNet & I presume it will be the last. ?? https://t.co/6p9NjX9yPt

— KASSIUS (KASH-US) (@KassiusOhno) December 22, 2018

This is Ohno’s second time with WWE. Outside of WWE, Ohno is best known using the name Chris Hero. Since returning to NXT, Ohno has mostly worked as a mid card wrestler and sometimes enhancement talent. He lost to Matt Riddle at Takeover WarGames II in seven seconds; which is an NXT record.