10 Wrestlers Likely To Miss WWE WrestleMania 38

9. Asuka

Alexa Bliss
WWE.com

Reports have varied as to Asuka's whereabouts and the reason behind her sudden, unexplained vanishing.

Is she injured?

Cleared with no creative plans?

Asuka herself has alluded to various reports of "fake news", but she's a wrestler. They lie for a living.

She has been missed, heavily, since she last appeared on television. Her layoff has coincided with a sharp decline in both the quality and profile of women's wrestling in WWE. Even when she was booked like sh*t or as somebody who was just there, she elevated the scene with her tremendous work. Doudrop has effectively deputised in the "terrible storylines but midcard banger-adjacent nothing matches" role, but wouldn't it be nice if there were two performers capable of transcending the creative? Couldn't she have challenged for Becky's RAW Women's Title in the "right" way this time? Wouldn't it be nice if the creative wasn't so brutal in the first place?

Because it is, there's somehow "nothing for" Asuka at present - and unless she locates a tag team partner, she might not even be considered filler in the tag scene.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!