The 2020 iteration of the wholly beloved WWE Royal Rumble is imminent, folks! Jordan Huie of the Overtimer here to give you the previews, recaps and results from the show as always! With the show itself just hours away, I’m feverishly looking to finish off this mini-series. All week I’ve been looking at the favorites to win the Men’s and Women’s royal rumble matches! And now our journey brings us to one half of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, Kairi Sane!
Kairi Sane – Relevant Stats
- WWE Debut: 2019 (Debuted in NXT in 2017)
- First Rumble appearance: 2018
- She has never won a Rumble match.
- This will be her third Rumble appearance.
- She has amassed one total elimination.
- She has never held the Raw or SmackDown Women’s titles.
- Current betting odds: +1800
How 2019 Went For Kairi Sane:
Ugh… okay. So at the start of 2019, Kairi Sane was still a thriving part of NXT’s women’s division. She was in a tag team with Io Shirai, called the Sky Pirates. A tag team that I felt was destined to result in a split, with Io Shirai eventually turning on Kairi and the two of them having a rivalry that would kinda emulate Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn from back of the day. The two of them legitimately do not get along and never have, in past promotions this led to some truly bitter in-ring battles. I was quite looking forward to seeing this unfurl.
But then, in April, Kairi was suddenly plucked from NXT and put on SmackDown where she was banded with Asuka instead. It was very important that she be called up from NXT so that she and Asuka could basically do absolutely nothing for the next three months. Seriously, from the start of May to the end of July, the Kabukis had two matches on WWE TV. But no, it was really important that she be taken off the roster. If NXT’s plans for the division have to go belly-up, ah well. Worthy sacrifice. Don’t ask me why Vince does things.
They were quietly and very, very slowly building up a feud with the IIconics, holders of the Women’s tag titles at the time. This led to a ‘blowoff’ match in which the IIconics got themselves counted out in a minute and a half. That was the end of their angle. And then Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross went on to win the tag titles instead in a four way also including the Kabukis. So Asuka and Kairi Sane promptly went after them instead.
The result was the least earned double turn of all time.
Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross had already recently just shown up one day as babyfaces, after being heels for a while. So it makes sense that when the Kabuki Warriors challenged them at Hell In A Cell, the babyfaces were suddenly heels. Asuka spat some mist and the rest is history, the twosome have held the women’s tag titles ever since.
Now, in all fairness, they’ve had a pretty good reign since then. Even if it did begin in rather shoddy fashion. It’s fair to say that Asuka and Kairi Sane have brought more credibility to those titles than any other team. This is saying very little, in fact it’s basically saying nothing. In the 11 months that those belts have existed, the history has been pretty spotty to say the least. But the Kabuki Warriors have managed some strong defenses, most notably headlining the last PPV of the decade against Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. They beat these two big name competitors in a TLC match, a fine way to end the year.
Where does that leave her chances?
Whilst her partner Asuka is embroiled in what’s been a pretty damn good build against Becky Lynch, Kairi will presumably be repping the team in the Royal Rumble match. Now, make no bones about it, Asuka is the big name of the team. They’ve been pretty clear about presenting her as the stronger of the two, and that’s fair enough. She is much more decorated and accomplished. But Kairi’s awesome too, and happens to be seven years younger then her. So she probably has a longer future with the company in store.
It’d be a fine, fine idea in my book to have Kairi win this and elevate herself to that level. But just because I’d like to see it doesn’t mean it’s gonna happen. Her chances ain’t great, and frankly it’d count as a bit of a swerve if she won. Could be really cool though.
What would her story be?
In theory, the story can be very simple. Becky can defeat Asuka at the Rumble, only to have her friend Kairi come in for revenge. And that’d be perfectly acceptable and likely lead to a really good match. Buuuut what would be cooler to me… is if Kairi won the Rumble on the same night that Asuka won the Raw Women’s title.
Now I don’t see either of those things happening. But it sure would be a fun scenario. Kairi Sane and Asuka would attempt to keep things on the level and not let it divide them. But as the match drew nearer, the tensions would rise and ultimately their friendship wouldn’t last, as precious few in WWE ever do. (You basically have to be part of the New Day. They’re special like that.)
Undoubtedly, one would end up costing the team the Women’s Tag titles ahead of their Mania bout, whether by accident or on purpose, adding further fuel to the fire. And lord knows, the resulting match between the two of them could be out of this world if you let it happen. It’s far from the most likely scenario, but it’s probably the one I’d enjoy the most if I’m being totally blunt.
SUBSCRIBE NOW: Get TheOvertimer’s Hottest Stories, Breaking News and Special Features in your email, CLICK HERE!
