WWE Announces Women's Title Clash Between IYO SKY And Asuka

Asuka will get her shot at reclaiming the WWE Women's Championship when she takes on IYO SKY on an episode of "WWE SmackDown" on September 22. The announcement was made on Friday's episode of "SmackDown," for a match two weeks from now.

On last night's episode, the former women's champion appeared in the timekeeper's area, behind Dakota Kai who was holding SKY's championship as SKY and Bayley took on Charlotte Flair and Shotzi. Asuka grabbed the title from Kai, distracting Bayley on the top turnbuckle, leading to a Shotzi and Flair victory over Damage CTRL. After the match, Asuka and SKY stared each other down after "The Empress of Tomorrow" threw the championship at SKY's feet. Asuka cut a promo backstage after the interaction, saying that the match would happen on "SmackDown," rather than at the upcoming Fastlane premium live event.

Asuka and SKY were previously a tag team about a decade ago in Japan, but haven't ever faced each other in singles competition, outside of an untelevised match at a WWE house show in 2022. SKY won the title at SummerSlam, cashing in her Money In The Bank contract after Bianca Belair won the title from Asuka in a triple threat match involving Flair.