10 Times WWE Picked The RIGHT Wrestler At The WRONG Time

10. Asuka

Asuka's WWE career has been, by any standards, extraordinary.

A five-time World champion, first ever Women's Royal Rumble Winner, Money in the Bank briefcase holder and possessor of the longest winning streak in wrestling history, Asuka will be remembered as one of WWE's greatest ever superstars.

So why does it feel like the company could have done even more with her?

When Asuka became the face of the women's division in 2020, it was a bittersweet moment. Yes, it was a just reward for the Empress' exemplary efforts in holding down the fort when the pandemic hit (Becky Lynch wasn't being hyperbolic when she called Asuka the best wrestler in the world when she relinquished the title to her), but it also felt like a case of too little, too late.

WWE should really have had Asuka dethrone Charlotte at WrestleMania 34. That loss sapped the two years of momentum Asuka had built up in NXT and on the main roster, and basically caused her to start over from scratch to claw her way back to the top of the card.

Aside from a painfully poor Smackdown title run, Asuka spent the next two years being the company's most over mid-carder before finally climbing back to the top of the mountain as RAW Women's Champion.

Which segues nicely to the women who beat her for the title...