5 Biggest WWE Winners & Losers In 2021
5. Loser: Asuka
Frittering away anyone’s career seems a shame: wasting the time of a talent like Asuka is downright criminal. Perhaps the most consistent star on the roster since around her debut, through stagnation and bad booking, Asuka has lost a decent chunk of her aura by the close of 2021.
She started the year as Raw Women’s Champion, but bafflingly the focus had been put on her erstwhile partnership with Charlotte Flair. The two nabbed the tag team belts for no real reason, then killed a few weeks with some “can they co-exist?” storytelling that’s always just death.
Asuka had a good spot at WrestleMania and a fine opponent in Rhea Ripley, but sadly their match never quite caught fire. This was partly down to the build - or rather, the complete and utter lack of one. Ripley turned up on Raw, said she wanted a match, and that was your lot.
Asuka has been a background player at best since then, possibly rehabbing an injury. On her return, there’s plenty she could be getting on with - surely even this booking committee couldn’t mess up Asuka.