13 Ups And 23 Downs For WWE In 2020

11. No One Is Ready For Asuka

There are a handful of MVPs to come out of this uneven year. One of them has to be Asuka, who spent half the year as Raw Women’s Champion and dominated much of the red brand’s television.

The year didn’t start out great for Asuka, as she lost a title match at Royal Rumble to Becky Lynch, and then the Kabuki Warriors lost the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 36. But afterward, Asuka became a focal point of the women’s division. She excelled in the empty arena era, as her shouting in Japanese on commentary filled the silent arena with noise while allowing her to get some screentime.

Whether it was purposeful or not, the yelling actually softened her heel persona somewhat, as she transitioned to being more of a tweener and less of the green mist-spewing villain she had been. This helped greatly at Money in the Bank, where Asuka captured the briefcase, which she learned held the Raw Women’s Championship Lynch was vacating.

The Empress went on to defend the title successfully for much of the year, save for a short reign by Sasha Banks. Asuka had solid matches and an entertaining feud with Banks and Bayley throughout the summer. She closed out 2020 winning back the women’s tag titles with Charlotte Flair, becoming a double champion.

Not bad work for a woman who had the division thrust upon her.