The King and Queen of the Ring tournaments kicked off earlier this month and so far several notable names have advanced to the semifinals. The tournaments continued on Monday Night Raw this week and Stephanie Vaquer, Ivy Nile, Raquel Rodriguez and Asuka faced off in a four way match.
Asuka returned to the ring on Monday night to compete for the first time since she and Kairi Sane dropped the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles to Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill at the Backlash premium live event in May of 2024. The Empress of Tomorrow received a big reaction from the audience as the fans chanted “welcome back” shortly after the match kicked off.
At one point Raquel had Stephanie and Ivy both on her shoulders and Asuka took them all out with a dropkick off the top rope. Asuka then took control of the match as she dominated the three other competitors.
Stephanie Vaquer tried to take on Asuka one on one, but Asuka no sold several attacks as she taunted Vaquer. Finally Stephanie Vaquer got the upper hand, but she started to favor her right knee.
Raquel Rodriguez managed to powerbomb Stephanie Vaquer and she immediately went for the pin. Rhea Ripley appeared out of nowhere and pulled her out of the ring before the three count.
Rhea Ripley hit Raquel with Riptide on the outside then threw her back into the ring. Asuka then took out Raquel with the Empress Impact and pinned her to win the match.
Asuka will now go on to face Alexa Bliss in the Queen of the Ring semifinals. Stay tuned for updates.