10 WWE Predictions We Got Completely Wrong In 2018

You're always idly toying with matches predicting anything good for an NXT call-up who doesn't fit the traditional mould (ie, blonde, not Japanese), but in Asuka, WWE surely couldn't misfire? Even if her first few months on the main roster had been somewhat tepid, the Empress of Tomorrow was unbeaten, and her aura was seemingly being preserved for something special.

A feelgood Royal Rumble win seemed to confirm all our hopes. WWE weren't going to drop the ball on Asuka.

History has proved that the company's fingers are more buttery than an explosion at a dairy, and even with a ball as easy to hold as Asuka, of course they'd drop it. Just like that, the ready-made star was sacrificed at the altar of Charlotte, and just like that, he mystique vanished.

It was salvageable; after all, an unbeaten run has to end somewhere, and it had almost became an albatross around Asuka's neck at this point. So there was some sort of sense. What didn't make sense, was making her look like a complete chump opposite pro-wrestling pretender Carmella. Repeatedly.

Since then, Asuka all but disappeared from view, tagging with Naomi to fill time... until dramatically being inserted into the Becky Lynch and Charlotte feud. In the non-linear world of WWE, you always have a chance - though on this occasion, she's probably just there to lose. That, stunningly, is her role now.