12 Early Predictions For WWE WrestleMania 35
9. Asuka Vs. Becky Lynch - SmackDown Women's Title Match
Asuka is completely knackered... as a babyface.
All attempts to knacker Becky Lynch in the babyface role - whether directly, via the alleged huffing of Kevin Dunn, or indirectly, through general Creative incompetence - have proven unsuccessful. The people love Becky because this fire gimmick isn't a gimmick. She is that rarest of creature in WWE; a babyface performer so skilled and authentic that she inspires belief beyond reason.
Increasingly, the heel turn is only ever a shortcut to relevance in an atrophic Creative landscape, but even with that being the case, we can arrive at Asuka vs. Becky Lynch through cold deductive reasoning despite both women triggering through their ethnicity an office still trapped in 2011.
Who else on SmackDown is worth the Grandest Stage, on which WWE almost invariably does not please itself?
The Carmella push surely won't last the year. Picture WWE Creative meetings as a literal throw of the dice. On each side is a dire trope designed to elongate a heel push, landing on an inconclusive match result. One throw results in a "shock" interference. Another results in a mid-match injury sustained by the babyface. Another throw lands on the intentional count-out. Not that this is of much concern to WWE, but eventually, repetition is inevitable.
Unless Shayna Baszler is "promoted" to the main roster, WWE will likely turn Asuka heel - an awesome prospect, given the hilarious mischievous side she has shown thus far - and Naomi has already had her turn.