5 Reasons why Asuka will challenge Sasha Banks for the RAW Women's Championship at WWE SummerSlam

Last night's episode of WWE Monday Night RAW saw Asuka force Bayley to tap to the Asuka Lock in order to claim a SummerSlam rematch for the RAW Women's Championship that she lost to Sasha Banks a few short weeks ago.

Sasha Banks and Bayley have dominated WWE's women's division throughout the months spent in the Performance Center and now the two women hold all of the gold available to the women on the main roster.

Asuka was handed the RAW Women's Championship when Becky Lynch was forced off WWE TV and onto maternity leave back in April and The Boss is the only woman who has been able to dethrone The Empress of Tomorrow in that time.

Banks was the one who forced her friend Bayley to take on Asuka because The Blueprint expected the SmackDown Women's Champion to come out on top, but obviously, that wasn't the case.

So why did Asuka pick up the win over Bayley to earn the right to challenge Banks at SummerSlam? Here are five possible reasons.

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#5. Lack of challengers in the WWE Women's Division at present

While there are the likes of Lana, Natalya, Bianca Belair, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Nia Jax, and Shayna Baszler all waiting on the sidelines for a shot at the RAW Women's Championship, it could be argued that many of these women are not in a position to challenge Banks after the way that she's been built up on WWE TV in recent months.

Additionally, all of the women on RAW are currently in storylines. Bianca Beliar has finally stepped into a feud with Zelina Vega, Nattie and Lana recently started a feud with Mickie James while Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott are concentrating on reuniting The Riott Squad. Nia Jax was also suspended from WWE last week.

At present, the women on RAW are part of many storylines and Asuka is the only one available to step up to the challenge of Sasha Banks at The Biggest Party of the Summer.

#4. Shayna Baszler will step up after her stint in WWE RAW Underground

Shayna Baszler hasn't been handed the best of luck since she was promoted to WWE's main roster after she was given a shot at the RAW Women's Championship but was unable to defeat Becky Lynch at WrestleMania.

Baszler was then the original woman who was scheduled to win the Women's Money in the Bank ladder match but those plans changed when it became clear that Lynch would be forced off WWE TV.

Baszler is likely being prepared for a push at the RAW Women's Championship once again but at present, she's busy on RAW Underground. If Asuka doesn't come out on top at SummerSlam then Baszler will probably be the next woman to step up and challenge Banks heading into WWE's next pay-per-view event.

It's unknown how long Baszler will be used on RAW Underground but she had a dominant debut this week when she took on three women. It appears that the former NXT Women's Champion could be much more comfortable in that role ahead of potentially challenging for the RAW Women's Championship.

#3. Asuka deserves a rematch because of the way she lost the WWE RAW Title

Asuka has been embroiled in a bitter feud with Sasha Banks over the past few months on WWE TV and even Stephanie McMahon was annoyed about the way Bayley and The Boss were able to take away Asuka's title back at Extreme Rules.

McMahon made a match that would favor Asuka a week later on RAW, but somehow the two women once again found a loophole via Bayley jumping Kairi Sane backstage and Banks took away the title from Asuka officially.

It's been a rough few weeks for Asuka and she definitely deserves this rematch after the way she lost the title and the way that the former WWE Women's Champion was treated at Extreme Rules.

Asuka pushed Banks to new levels in their previous two matches and The WWE Universe does not believe that The Boss can actually defeat The Empress of Tomorrow without Bayley's help. Hopefully, Banks is able to change this opinion at SummerSlam as Bayley will have her own Championship match to focus on and possibly won't be at ringside this time around.

#2 Revenge for Kairi Sane attack at WWE RAW

Kairi Sane has now left WWE following the backstage attack at the hands of Bayley a few weeks ago on RAW. Sane had already informed the company that she was leaving and returning to Japan but the company had to find a way to write her off WWE TV, and that happened within this storyline a few weeks ago.

The storyline that the company decided to run with is that Sane suffered career-ending injuries following the assault at the hands of Bayley. That information has now unleashed a new side of Asuka who is out for revenge against Banks and Bayley in honor of her best friend.

The Kabuki Warriors are former Women's Tag Team Champions and were the closest of friends throughout their time together in WWE, so The Empress of Tomorrow needs to get some revenge.

While Bayley was the one who attacked Sane, Asuka can make her point by taking back her RAW Women's Championship before targeting Bayley in order to exact the retribution that she deserves.

#1. For WWE to allow tension to build between Bayley and Sasha

There have been rumors about Bayley and Sasha Banks turning on each other for a number of months, but instead the duo have just become stronger as a team. The two now hold all of the main roster WWE Women's Championships that are available.

The plan may have been for Banks and Bayley to turn on each other a while ago, but the company thought it was too predictable. It was Banks who volunteered Bayley for the match against Asuka on RAW this week because she believed that Bayley would prevent her from having to fight Asuka for the third time.

If Banks loses the RAW Women's Championship at SummerSlam later this month, then technically it could be claimed that it's Bayley's fault since she was unable to defeat The Empress of Tomorrow and prevent the rematch.

This could help build some tension between the two women in the coming months ahead of what would be an interesting split if that's the direction that WWE decides to take with the current WWE Women's Tag Team Champions.