10 Things We Learned From Corey Graves' New WWE Podcast

4. Vince McMahon Wanted Asuka Earlier

asuka nxt
WWE.com

Asuka was booked to hold the NXT Women's Title for a colossal 510 days, went undefeated in WWE for an even more impressive 914 days, and eventually made her way to the main roster in September 2017. By that time, she'd become NXT royalty following a scorching two-year stint that positioned her as an absolute star.

Vinnie Mac took notice.

According to Triple H, Vince chewed his ear off on more than one occasion about drafting Asuka up to Raw or SmackDown from NXT. This was something Trips decided to fight, partly due to how threadbare the female ranks were getting on his baby brand (more on that in the next entry). He realised that Asuka was essential to the division.

Triple H would've continued to build the NXT women's division around Asuka had McMahon not overruled him in late-2017. The boss had wanted to pluck the Japanese star away from NXT for a good while, and he'd finally get his wish when she joined Raw.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.