5 Burning Issues For WWE Raw Tonight (Oct 23)

4. Tomorrow's Empress, Today

Brock Lesnar Jinder Mahal
WWE.com

Asuka's show-opening destruction of Emma at Tables, Ladders and Chairs was a rough approximation of how every single one of her matches should go between now and whenever she wins the Women's Title. Some can go a touch shorter, some may even justify a few more minutes, but the disarming air of victory she held over her fellow NXT graduate should be the common trait of all her maiden battles.

Built on a strong foundation of dominance, Asuka's Full Sail success was much down to the manner in which he established herself as unstoppable to a relatively brand new audience. WWE shouldn't underestimate the need to re-do much of what already worked for a sizeable portion of the audience yet to see her shine.

If anything, less would be more on the weekly show, but few are daft enough to assume WWE won't over-expose the 'Empress Of Tomorrow' within weeks. But as long as she keeps winning, and winning well, she will be fine.

It's likely she'll say her first words in front of the Raw crowd this week, with an interrupting heel happy to put their head on a block to be kicked clean off next. Just who is ready for Asuka?

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett