Asuka Wins Women's 2018 WWE Royal Rumble, Ronda Rousey Debuts After Match

Asuka earned a title shot at WrestleMania 34 on April 8 in New Orleans by winning the first-ever women's Royal Rumble match, but that's only part of the story as Ronda Rousey made her WWE debut to close out the 2018 Royal Rumble.

Asuka eliminated Nikki Bella to become the last woman standing. WWE showed the former NXT women's champion getting her hand raised as the winner:

WWE chief brand officer Stephanie McMahon shared her thoughts on the match:

Rousey arrived and cryptically pointed toward the WrestleMania sign hanging in Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center:

As the Rumble winner, Asuka is entitled to challenge either Raw women's champion Alexa Bliss or SmackDown Live women's champion Charlotte Flair. Rousey's arrival complicates matters, though.

She shook hands with McMahon at ringside, which could imply some sort of agreement the two have reached about a match at WrestleMania.

Logic suggests Rousey will wrestle Bliss, since Raw is WWE's flagship show on television. However, Flair is the far bigger star, and ESPN's Arash Markazi reported a match with Rousey is something she has been pushing for:

It certainly makes sense to have Rousey take on the daughter of Ric Flair, who's also a former NXT women's champion and six-time women's champion in WWE in her own right. Rousey vs. Flair is the kind of matchup that can appeal to mainstream audiences.

Asuka vs. Bliss, meanwhile, would be a way for The Empress of Tomorrow to finally ascend to her position as the most dominant women's wrestler in WWE. Conversely, beating Asuka would cement Bliss' status as the best heel in the women's division and somebody who can more than hold her own against top competition despite her size (5'1").

On one hand, Rousey's debut is the biggest talking point coming out of the 2018 Royal Rumble, thus overshadowing what was a history-making Royal Rumble match.

On the other hand, history will remember Asuka as the first female Rumble winner, and now she'll have her biggest match to date at WrestleMania.