10 Booking Steps To End Asuka’s Undefeated Streak In WWE
1. The Match Beyond
Where do you go from there?
In order to redeem the Asuka character, WWE must book the absolute biggest Women's match in company history on the Grandest Stage: WrestleMania 35. In the interim, Ronda, established as a storyline threat and a credible pro wrestler after a meticulously-mapped trial by fire, dethrones Bayley at the Royal Rumble. Asuka, having lost her subsequent programme to a debuting Ember Moon, tying up that dangling thread, is little fancied - but strongly desired - to win the second Women's Royal Rumble Match. The host city could not be more apt, nor should WWE resist the temptation for some on-the-nose marketing. This is Asuka's Phoenix moment; after an Iron Woman stint, she last eliminates Alexa Bliss to add the gloss, the rub, to her babyface turn.
Ronda Rousey Vs. Asuka is a major match - as unpredictable as it is epic - fully deserving of the 'Mania stage. It is also the first Women's match to headline the Show of Shows - a natural progression of an increasingly contrived Women's Revolution, and one that must arrive sooner than later, in order to make real an exercise in hollow marketing.
Asuka wins, and is thus redeemed. She is no longer undefeated - but in defeat she rises to the pantheon of wrestling greats.