An update has emerged on WWE having to alter plans for Monday Night RAW.
Prior to the August 11 edition of WWE RAW, it was advertised that Women’s World Champion Naomi would defend her title against IYO SKY. However, the current champion was pulled from the show just hours before the show went live, with the company announcing that she wasn’t medically cleared to compete. Now, we know that the Women’s World Championship match wasn’t the only creative plan affected by Naomi not being able to compete on this Monday’s RAW.
Per PWInsider Elite, it’s believed Asuka’s split from IYO SKY, which was heavily forecasted during the August 11 episode of RAW, was pushed forward as a result of Naomi’s absence.
“The Asuka heel turn was scheduled to be more of a slow burn over the next few weeks but when Raw plans were reconfigured once Naomi was pulled, they were pushed forward.”
-Fightful Select
As yet, little is known regarding Naomi’s status moving forward, with the Women’s World Champion still currently set for a title defence against Stephanie Vaquer at Clash In Paris. Coming out of this week’s show, it seems as if the split between Asuka, IYO SKY and Kairi Sane will have a prominent role on the red brand in the coming weeks.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on WWE’s future plans as soon as we hear more.
