Former WWE Writer Speculates On Asuka's Future

One former WWE writer believes Asuka's recent activity could be signaling the Japanese star might be taking a break from professional wrestling shortly.

On the latest episode of the "Wrestling with Freddie" podcast, actor and former WWE creative team member Freddie Prinze Jr. shared his thoughts on Asuka's recent loss to Rhea Ripley on "Monday Night Raw" and a series of cryptic tweets she's made since the match.

"She's going to take a little break, I think, from wrestling," Prinze Jr. predicted. 

In recent weeks, Asuka has made several disparaging tweets about herself – and the world – and has repeatedly shared photos of herself with her face crossed out. On several other occasions, Asuka has tweeted old photos of herself in an alternate face paint she used when wrestling in Japan and, after her loss to Ripley, told fans she's going to "be on a trip for a little while." Asuka's most recent tweet, sent Monday, simply reads: "fed up."

Prinze Jr. believes Asuka wrestling without her usual face paint in the loss to Ripley could signal a major shift in her character. "She wrestled Rhea Ripley with no makeup on, which made you think that Asuka is gone and when she comes back it's going to be a more old-school version of Asuka and maybe she'll even change her name?" he guessed. "Which, I think after a break and the equity she has, she could get away with. Rhea Ripley won to send Asuka on her way but she tweeted out she's going to be gone for a little while, so I don't know if she's going back to Japan, maybe she's going to chill out and go on vacation and see the world."