5 Ups And 7 Downs From WWE Raw (May 4)

Ups...

5. Asuka A Saving Grace

Raw kicked off Monday night with the VIP Lounge, but there was no way MVP was going to save it himself, not with the wooden Shayna Baszler and eyeroll-inducing Nia Jax visiting the lounge.

But Asuka pulled everything together, just by doing what she’s been doing this entire Empty Arena Era: yelling in Japanese, dancing and stealing the show. The Empress of Tomorrow was seen singing along to Nia Jax’s entrance music, which in itself was both hilarious and in-character, as she was unfazed by the Irresistible Force. She then launched into a promo in Japanese, with the only decipherable words being “Kairi,” “very rude” and “big booty” directed at Jax.

Then, when Baszler called out Asuka, she yelled some more in Japanese before the two teamed up to boot Nia out of the ring as payback for last week. What otherwise would have been a clunker of a segment was made entertaining by Asuka, who has continued to shine these past couple months.

Seriously, with apologies to Montel Vontavious Porter, Asuka is the real MVP here.