10 Booking Steps For Asuka On WWE's Main Roster

8. Land Of Opportunity

NXT TakeOver London Asuka
WWE.com

Following the chaotic contract agreement at Hell In A Cell, preparations begin in earnest for Asuka's arrival.

As videos air showing clips of some of her finest moments in NXT, Women's Champion Natalya explains her frustrations at being overlooked by her bosses in their chase for Asuka's signature, but notes that she will be fully prepared to end the 'Empress Of Tomorrow's undefeated streak before it even gets a chance to breathe on the main roster.

To this end, Natalya engages in several weeks of hardcore training, shown to fans through vignettes that highlight her pushing herself like never before. On television, she wrestles absorbing and difficult matches every week that exhaust her at the time, but emphasise how seriously she is taking the challenge.

However, on the go-home show, her excessive planning ends in catastrophe. After defeating Naomi in a 20-minute topliner with the Sharpshooter, the toilworn champion is ambushed by Carmella. 'The Princess Of Staten Island' cashes in her Money In The Bank contract there and then and takes the title.

Down the lens, she promises to debunk the myth of Asuka, noting that unlike Natalya, she's fresh as a daisy and ready for more than whatever is to be thrown at her at the Survivor Series.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett