WWE Raw: Mickie James explains why Asuka match was stopped

The match between Mickie James and WWE Raw Women’s Champion Asuka was abruptly stopped, and James explains what happened.

Wrestling fans were puzzled when a highly-anticipated match between Mickie James and WWE Raw Women’s Champion was stopped suddenly on Monday night. It seemed like Mickie was transitioning out of the Asuka Lock and selling the devastation of the submission hold when the ball rang and the referee signaled the end.

Since there have been a lot of these types of finishes in WWE recently, fans weren’t sure if this was planned to set up a rematch at Clash of Champions with the title on the line, or if James was actually injured. PWInsider.com’s Mike Johnson reported that Mickie sold the move so well that the ref legitimately thought she was injured.

And now, we have an explanation straight from Mickie James herself on what went down this past Monday night. Per James, the referee was simply looking out for her and thought she had been injured, potentially with a concussion. Thankfully, she was not concussed or injured in any other way.

Here’s what James told talkSPORT’s Alex McCarthy in an exclusive interview:

"“I honestly don’t know. I rolled back to count – one, two – there was no count. So she obviously went to go and lock back in the Asuka lock and I think in those moments, here’s the thing: it is a dangerous sport.We have to be very careful. The refs do their job and kind of their job is to protect us and make sure it never goes too far or no one ever gets hurt.So he made his decision based on what he thought was a reality, that I was hurt or I couldn’t continue and that’s unfortunate for me.”"

She added:

"“They’re just trying to protect me and keep me safe because concussions are a real thing. What we do as a sport is very dangerous. So if somebody gets a concussion, not only can they not wrestle the rest of that match, but they could possibly never wrestle again depending on how bad it is, same with football.”"

Mickie James vs. Asuka should happen again for the WWE Raw Women’s Title

It’s great to hear that Mickie is doing well and isn’t injured, since concussions, which are literally brain injuries, are no joke. They can take years of a wrestler’s career and life, and it’s better that WWE referees are told to err on the side of caution and putting that into practice.

Hopefully, Mickie gets a rematch for the championship at Clash of Champions or another show, since things may be complicated with Zelina Vega stepping up as a potential challenger for Asuka’s title.

Mickie and Asuka were putting on another great match on WWE Raw this week before the stoppage, hearkening back to their barnburner in 2016 at NXT TakeOver: Toronto. They could easily do it again on Pay Per View in 2020 if given the chance.