The Royal Rumble is almost here again and WWE is quickly filling up both of its 30-person matches. Most notably the women's Rumble which has already had 19 of its participants confirmed. The initial announcement made headlines as it featured a fair few returning stars, something that has become the norm for women's Rumble matches, in particular.
Injured Stars Returning For The Rumble
Even though there are only 11 spots left, or just nine if the Melina and Cameron reports are true, odds are we're still in for the odd surprise during the match itself. Not just wrestlers who have left the company and are back for the night, but a couple of Superstars currently on the sidelines with long-term injuries.
Bayley is the first person who comes to mind when you say that right now. So much so that she is one of the favorites with the oddsmakers to win the women's match. However, Asuka is also on WWE's long-term injured list. In fact, The Empress has been out of action for almost as long as The Role Model. The winner of the first-ever women's Royal Rumble hasn't been seen in the ring since losing last year's Money In The Bank match last July.
The Empress Cleared To Return
According to Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Podcast, Asuka “should be cleared now”. If true, that begs the question why hasn't she returned to the ring yet? Well, for exactly what has been discussed above. If Asuka is ready to go, then it only makes sense to save her for the Royal Rumble. With so many entrants who would have made great surprises already revealed, someone has to remain unannounced to pop the fans come January 29.
The only problem with that is WWE's women's division is looking pretty bare right now. There aren't even enough women between Raw and SmackDown to fill a Royal Rumble, hence the returning stars. There also aren't any female tag teams outside of the current champions, but unless Asuka has a new tag team partner she hasn't told anyone about, The Empress can't really help out on that front.