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For years, Asuka, Iyo Sky, and Kairi Sane have been best friends both in and out of the ring. They had a lot of shared experience wrestling in Japan, being highly scouted before coming to wrestle for WWE.

Asuka and Sane have been a tag team called The Kabuki Warriors for several years now. They joined Sky alongside Bayley and Dakota Kai when Damage CTRL was an active faction.

After Bayley got kicked out and Kai got released, they decided to stick together. However, their friendship completely imploded due to Skyâ€s association with Rhea Ripley.

A few weeks ago on Monday Night Raw, Asuka turned on Sky due to her Ripley connection with Sane stuck in the middle. To get viewers caught up on the story, the WWE YouTube channel uploaded another WWE Playlist video about how things got to where they are. This video goes into detail about how things got so bad between seemingly inseparable friends.

This video chronicles how Sky and The Kabuki Warriors went from friends to enemies. The interesting thing about this story is that Asuka is the one whoâ€s angry, Sky wants to forgive Asuka, Ripley wants Sky to walk away from both of them, and Sane is stuck in the middle. Itâ€s not as simple as just Asuka and Sky hating each other. Sane and Ripley are very important to the story as well.

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The story is woven throughout multiple matches and backstage segments. There have been consequential things happening in matches with Nikki Bella, Stephanie Vaquer, and others. Asuka and Sky havenâ€t had a one-on-one match yet or even a confrontation. The whole buildup has happened as the three have wrestled other women.

The matches are served as a way to drive the story forward, which is smart. Once they actually wrestle each other, the payoff is going to be well earned.

Overall, this was a great video showing how a great friendship crumbled in a short amount of time. In wrestling, there are always sudden turns and betrayals between friends. This type of video produced by WWE is a great way to show fans what happened in a straightforward way so they can fully understand the story.

Each week, Sky and Ripley got closer and closer with each other. That put an immense strain onto the friendship between Asuka and Sky. When Sky ran out to stop Asuka and Sane from beating down Ripley, Asuka finally snapped on her former friend. She had enough of someone she trusted for years helping someone whoâ€s been a rival.

Itâ€ll be interesting to see where Sane goes with all of this, as she is clearly stuck between obeying Asuka and helping Sky. With the go-home Raw and Crown Jewel coming up next week, the story between them and Ripley will certainly embark on its next compelling chapter.

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  Jesse RogersOct 1, 2025, 08:21 PM ET

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  Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com.

CHICAGO — Cubs manager Craig Counsell defended his decision to leave lefty Shota Imanaga in the game to face righty Manny Machado in the fifth inning of the San Diego Padres’ victory in Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series on Wednesday.

Machado hit a first pitch splitter for a two-run home run, extending the Padres’ lead to 3-0, the eventual final score.

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A deciding Game 3 will be at Wrigley Field on Thursday.

“The results suggest that we should have done something different,” Counsell said after the loss. “Really just confidence in Shota, plain and simple there. I thought he was pitching well. I thought he was throwing the ball really well and, unfortunately, he made a mistake.”

The decision came after Fernando Tatis Jr. walked and then took second on Luis Arraez’s sacrifice bunt. That created an open base. Counsell said he considered walking Machado but decided to pitch to him instead.

“Walking him wasn’t in my head,” Imanaga said through an interpreter. “That splitter was meant for down in the zone.”

Cubs manager Craig Counsell said he considered walking Manny Machado with a base open but decided to let Shota Imanaga pitch to him instead. “I thought he was throwing the ball really well and, unfortunately, he made a mistake,” Counsell said. Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Counsell had righty Mike Soroka ready, but he decided against going to him. It was a curious move, considering the Cubs used an opener to start Game 2, purposely allowing Imanaga to avoid facing Tatis and Machado in the first inning.

That wasn’t the case in the fifth.

“I don’t put a manager’s cap on,” Machado said when asked if he was surprised that he got to face Imanaga in that situation. “I’m 0-for-6 at that point. So yeah, I’m not thinking about that. For myself, I was just thinking about trying to get to Imanaga.”

Said Padres manager Mike Shildt: “I’ve got my hands full with my own club. I can’t be thinking about anybody else’s strategy.”

The teams will play a winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday. The Padres will start former Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish. Righty Jameson Taillon will take the hill for Chicago.

“I’m excited,” Taillon said. “As [Game 2] got going there, I started to get excited for tomorrow. You do a lot of work throughout the season for big moments. I’m looking forward to it.”

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India secure an unassailable lead in their one-day international series with England courtesy of a four-wicket victory in Cuttack.

England have succumbed to another tame defeat at the hands of India with the home side prevailing by four wickets in Cuttack.

Having posted a target of 305, England would have fancied their chances of defending that sizeable total, yet the brilliance of Rohit Sharma ensured a routine India run chase with 33 balls to spare.

The defeat ensures that India have established an unassailable 2-0 series lead with one match remaining, with that contest taking place on Wednesday.

In winning the toss, England took the chance to try to post a target that would at least test their hosts, and Phil Salt and Ben Duckett on 81 runs for the opening wicket.

On the back of Salt being dismissed for 26, Duckett and Joe Root impressed with knocks of 65 and 69 respectively, but scoring at a rapid rate despite a lack of maximums.

Sitting on 219-3 after 38.3 overs, England felt in relative control, but the dismissal of Jos Buttler for 34 left England reliant on Liam Livingstone, with the all-rounder making 41 from 32.

Adil Rashid added a valuable 14 from five deliveries, but three run outs cost England and kept India in the game.

Sharma is finally OUT âÂÅ’

Adil Rashid takes a fine catch but the damage has been done by the Indian captain!

📺 Watch #INDvENG on @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/hDgkaY38EW

— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) February 9, 2025

Sharma obliterates England attack

Rohit and Shubman Gill were outstanding during the opening stages of the reply, with a 136-run partnership being compiled before Jamie Overton dismissed Gill after a knock of 60 from 52 balls.

Nevertheless, although Virat Kohli went cheaply for five, England were powerless when it came to dealing with Rohit, who ultimately scored 119 from 90 balls in an innings that featured 12 boundaries and seven maximums.

Shreyas Iyer (44) and Axar Patel (41*) were able to manoeuvre the ball around to act as the ideal foil to their skipper, and it proved decisive as the win was achieved with 33 deliveries remaining.

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