Every Asuka NXT TakeOver Match - Ranked From Worst To Best
6. Vs Ember Moon (Orlando, April 1st 2017)
Ember Moon promised to 'take the (Women's) division back) ahead of the TakeOver: Orlando battle with the still-undefeated titleholder.
As Asuka's reign continued to grow, so too did the unlikeliness of a challenger ever reaching a level that they could realistically dethrone her. Moon was, at that point at least, the last great hope.
Parallels were drawn between the pair, with Ember debuting the previous year with Asuka on top, just as the 'Empress Of Tomorrow' had done during a Bayley reign she curtailed a year earlier in Dallas (more on that later).
Whilst Asuka had exhibited the variety of ways she could polish off the diverse range of insurgents that came for her title in her year as champion, Moon seemed to only need one. With her Eclipse finisher (a diving corkscrew Stone Cold Stunner), Ember had at least one potential match-winning weapon at her disposal.
Aping the original Kenny Omega/Kazuchika Okada encounter from January's WrestleKingdom 11, Asuka simply found a way to stop her using it.
Driven to desperation after a hard-fought battle in which Ember survived a number of submission attempts and the usual collection of kicks and hits, Asuka fought dirty for the very first time, pushing the referee onto the ropes in desperation as she saw Moon lining up her devastating finisher.
It was cheap, but proved shrewd and decisive. With both the referee and Ember rocked, Asuka took the challenger's head off with a kick and, with some relief, retained.