Bully Ray Speculates About Why Asuka Is Stepping Away From WWE

During a recent edition of Busted Open Radio, WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray discussed WWE’s Asuka, who recently stepped away from wrestling following her recent “farewell” following her loss to Iyo Sky at WWE Backlash earlier this month. Bully Ray later speculated about why Asuka made the decision. Below are some highlights (via WrestlingInc.com):

Bully Ray on Why Asuka Is Taking Some Time Away

“My point is: I’m not quite too sure about the personal reasons back home or the personal reasons…I don’t think she was happy with Kairi [Sane] being let go, and I think she was tired of being background noise. There’s so much of her story [that] was not told, and they never truly, truly gave you the version of Asuka that Asuka could have been. It was okay to get the Three Faces of Foley, but we couldn’t get the multiple personalities of Asuka…”

On How She ‘Should Have Been Special’

“But we couldn’t get something that was so successful in Japan and give it some WWE life and modernize it. Asuka should have been special. Special for a long time. I don’t care if she would have had a translator, a manager, spoken broken English, anything. The woman wrestled like a million dollars, and she looked like a million dollars.”

As previously noted, Asuka shared a video earlier this week, confirming earlier reports that she is taking time away related to personal reasons in Japan and confirmed that she’s still signed to WWE. However, she said her appearances moving forward would be “rare.”