WWE Rumors on Asuka's Status, John Cena Classic Format, Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Reported Reason for Asuka Getting Written Off WWE TV

Asuka is reportedly set to deal with personal matters in her home country of Japan after seemingly saying her good-byes on WWE programming in recent days.

According to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News), it has been "definitively" relayed that Asuka asked WWE to address a situation related to her personal life, and she was granted permission to do so.

Despite speculation, Sapp noted that Asuka has not been released from WWE, nor was she asked to take a pay cut.

At Backlash, Asuka finished up her long-running rivalry with Iyo Sky. After Sky defeated her, Asuka embraced Iyo and then waved good-bye to the fans in an apparent farewell.

Asuka also appeared on Monday night's episode of Raw, embracing Sky again and then exited the building with a suitcase in tow.

Many openly wondered after Backlash if Asuka was retiring given that she is 44 years old and a 20-plus-year veteran of the wrestling business, but that does not appear to be the case.

Sapp didn't offer any details on when or if Asuka will return to the ring, but given that she is still under contract with WWE, it stands to reason that she could come back at any time once her personal matters are handled.

The Empress of Tomorrow is one of the most successful and decorated women's wrestlers in WWE history as a four-time women's champion on the main roster, five-time WWE women's tag team champion, one-time NXT women's champion and one-time winner of the Royal Rumble and Money in the Bank ladder match.

Her absence will be felt in the women's division, but the possibility of an eventual return of the ring perhaps eases some of the concern her fans may have had coming out of Backlash.

WWE Reportedly Still Working on John Cena Classic Details

WWE legend John Cena announced over the weekend at Backlash that a new concept called the John Cena Classic will be coming to WWE programming in the future.

Cena explained that the John Cena Classic will feature wrestlers from both the main roster and NXT, and the winner of the first John Cena Championship will be determined by fan vote rather than wins or losses.

No other information was provided beyond that, and it may be because WWE had none to share.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), the John Cena Classic is "a work in progress," and details are still being ironed out.

For instance, Meltzer noted that it still isn't known if the John Cena Classic will be a tournament or simply a bunch of matches separate from each other.

Regardless of what it turns out to be, the John Cena Classic seems like a unique concept that is consistent with what Cena pushed for over the closing months of his career.

When Cena lost to Gunther in the final match of his career at Saturday Night's Main Event in December, the rest of the card was filled with matches between main roster and NXT stars at Cena's request.

It sounds like the John Cena Classic will bring that concept back into the fold, except this time the participants will be vying for championship gold as well.

Reported Internal Reaction to Stephen A. Smith in WWE

Some within WWE are reportedly open to the idea of ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith getting involved with the product in some manner.

According to Meltzer (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), there is "serious talk" about Smith doing something with WWE, and there are people in WWE who didn't want Pat McAfee involved with the product, but are "favorable" toward the idea of Smith being involved.

McAfee, whose podcast airs daily on ESPN, was a late addition to the WWE Championship feud between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton leading up to WrestleMania 42.

The WWE fanbase did embrace McAfee's involvement, and WWE seemed to move on from it quickly, as he turned on Orton during the WrestleMania match against Rhodes and got taken out by Orton as a result.

Per Meltzer (h/t Carrier), McAfee "opted out" of any further plans beyond WrestleMania because of how the fans were reacting.

It remains to be seen how fans would react to Smith showing up in WWE, but Meltzer's report makes it sound as though people who work in the company would be more open to it than they were with McAfee.

While McAfee has worked extensively with WWE for years as a commentator and occasional wrestler, Smith has not had any involvement aside from having people involved with WWE on his popular ESPN show First Take.

Smith is a mainstream name in the sports world, though, and he would perhaps help get more eyes on the WWE product, which may be why there is interest in making it happen.