How Asuka Has Become WWE's Highlight In The Empty Arena Era
How the Empress of Tomorrow became the Empress of Entertainment in WWE.
What a difference a week makes.
Last week, we were worried that Asuka would fall under the radar in WWE again after the Kabuki Warriors dropped the women's tag titles to Cross and Bliss at WrestleMania. Yet while the Kabuki Warriors are likely not much longer for this world Asuka herself has started gathering steam again as a singles performer, with the Empress of Tomorrow qualifying for her first ever Money in the Bank match on RAW.
While she might not be the odds-on favourite to get the coveted briefcase, if she does pick up the win no-one could say that she hasn't earned it. Ever since WWE began taping shows without a crowd Asuka has been the most consistently entertaining member of the roster, keeping fans' eyes glued to the screen by being the most magnetic, dynamic performer in every segment she appears in. Over the next few pages we will take a look at how the Empress of Tomorrow has spent the past month becoming the highlight of WWE programming, from the first ever empty arena show at SmackDown to the 13 April edition of RAW.
To mangle two iconic catchphrases: "Let's get ready for Asuka!"
5. The Asuka Dance
Asuka's first moment of meme-generating brilliance came in the first of
the empty arena shows. After successfully scuppering future WrestleMania
opponents Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross with a run-in during their
tag-match, Asuka celebrated with an absolutely adorkable dance (See
2:20-2:25). In a few short seconds, the Empress of Tomorrow breathed
fire into one of the least-developed feuds for Wrestlemania.
Social media lit up with gifs of the dance, bringing eyes to the program, and the dance became something for her opponents to latch onto - both Bliss and Cross made sure to mock it during the former's pre-WrestleMania match with Asuka (more on which later). The dance has also become an integral part of her current persona - she has made sure to perform at least a variation of it during nearly all her subsequent appearances as it brilliantly exemplifies her character as a cocky, obnoxious heel completely lacking in self-awareness
As the cliche goes, wrestling is about making the most of your opportunites and Asuka did just that by turning a cookie-cutter run-in into sports entertainment gold.