Ember Moon Injury Update, Battle Royal Fall Done on Purpose?

As mentioned before, NXT star Ember Moon has been struck with a shoulder injury. Moon was involved in a battle royal on NXT to determine who will face Asuka at Takeover in Chicago for the NXT Women’s Championship. Asuka ran out and caused the match to be ruled a no contest, and William Regal announced that Asuka would face Moon, Nikki Cross, and Ruby Riot in a fatal 4-way match at Takeover as a result. During the battle royal, Moon was standing on top of one of the posts, then Asuka shoved her to floor, crashing her shoulder against the barricade in the process. This was originally thought to be where Moon’s injury had occurred, but it appears now that this may not be the case after all.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Ember Moon was not injured as a result of Asuka shoving her down to the floor. In actuality, she had already been injured, and the move was done as a way of writing Moon off of television while still making her look like a top contender for the title. It’s similar to what WWE just did with Braun Strowman on Raw. The match has since been changed to a triple threat match with Asuka, Riot, and Cross facing each other. On the most recent episode of NXT, Moon confirmed that she was injured and could not wrestle at Takeover. She then vowed to return better than ever before. Moon is expected to be gone from television for about 4-5 weeks.
Ember Moon is clearly being groomed as the person to finally dethrone Asuka for her title. Even though she’ll be missing the Chicago event, she likely was not going to win there anyway. However, she will likely be good to go for the next Takeover show in Brooklyn. With Takeover: Brooklyn typically being a major show for the NXT brand, it certainly seems possible that Moon could return from injury and finally win the championship there. It tells the story of her avenging her loss in Orlando, returning from an injury, and defeating Asuka one year after she debuted. Moon may be gone for now, but don’t expect her to be finished with the current NXT Women’s Champion yet.