Why are WWE bookers screwing Asuka?
When professional wrestler Kanaka “Asuka” Urai first rose to prominence in the WWE’s NXT “developmental” brand, the then-34-year-old performer had developed a growing following (the number of fan-run “worship blogs” for Urai/Asuka on Tumblr alone, with names like Wrath of Asuka City and Fuck Yeah Kanako Urai, continue to grow) for which NXT’s bookers took notice when they chose to have Uraibecome the face of the brand, holding the NXT Women’s Championship for a record 510 days, a reign ended only when Urai injured her right collarbone during a title defense against Ember Moon at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III.
After that show, she relinquished the title (typically, in pro wrestling storylines, the champions are supposed to perform title defenses at least once every thirty days) in August of 2017, allowing her to recover from her injury and also negotiate her move to WWE’s main rosters;
She would make her RAW debut late in September of that year, during which WWE writers continued to push her as an undefeated wrestler, having her win the first Woman’s Royal Rumble match this past January and settle a brief feud with Nia Jax at Elimination Chamber the month afterward, all part of a streak of 914 days without a defeat until her first major title shot occurred against Charlotte Flair, then the current Smackdown Women’s Champion at Wrestlemania 34. That match ended with Asuka submitting to Flair’s “Figure 8” submission hold, and subsequently, after her transfer from the RAW team to the Smackdown team, becoming part of an unnamed stable with Flair and Becky Lynch that many fans started unofficially dubbing ABC for “Asuka, Becky and Charlotte”.
So far, so good? Almost.
Urai wasn’t booked for a match at the May WWE PPV, Backlash 2018, but an event during that PPV where one of the more annoying female heels, Carmella, cashed in her Money In The Bank briefcase for a successful title shot against Flair, would start to lead towards Asuka’s next title shot at the Money In The Bank 2018 PPV on June 17.
Talk amongst smart wrestling fans anticipated seeing Carmella as pretty much a transitional strap-holder, whose smug attitude would be cut down a few pegs once Asuka essentially kicked her ass at MITB ’18.
Instead, unfortunately, some idiot on the WWE booking committee probably thought it would be a better idea to have Asuka lose her second straight PPV in a row, and with a ridiculous finish that smacked more of some of the old WWF’s late-80’s “comic book” storylines. Match/storyline wise, Asuka appeared to be getting the upper hand — and her first Smackdown Women’s title until a disguised James Ellsworth showed up at ringside, dressing in one of Asuka’s trademark entrance masks and robes and distracting her enough for Carmella to get the pinfall.
Seriously, WWE booking committee? The finish alone was ridiculous enough. Why are you risking pissing off the fans of one of your biggest female draws (probably your biggest female draw at this point) by having Kanako Urai do these embarassing jobs?
Women’s wrestling in the WWE was taking a positive turn over the past few years, returning to the days when women wrestlers were actually wrestling serious matches, rather than the ridiculous gimmick matches more suited to gentlemans’ clubs and Girls Gone Wild videos that were the low parts of WWE’s Attitude Era. Ridiculous finishes, and a seeming ignorance of how much a popular and respected female sports entertainer like Kanako Urai should be one of the official female faces of the company, doesn’t help much.
