How Asuka Has Become WWE's Highlight In The Empty Arena Era
3. Excellent Character Work
Asuka built her name in and out of WWE as a great professional wrestler first and foremost, but the above match shows how she has blossomed into a great sports entertainer. Many Asuka stans were furious about the outcome of this match - "She lost cleanly to Alexa Bliss?! #cancelWWE!" but...
a) Asuka had to lose to justify Bliss & Cross' demands for a match at WrestleMania.
b) Alexa Bliss is a 5x World Champion. It's not like Asuka got pinned by Alicia Fox.
c) Most importantly, Asuka gave a masterclass in protecting herself and getting her character over. Watch this clip again - every time Asuka is on offense she gets cocky and starts taunting Alexa and Nikki, and always pays for it. This Asuka is a very different beast to the ruthless killer of her NXT days. Now, she is an overbearing, overconfident bully and it comes back to bite her in this match. The subtext is that if Asuka wrestled like the efficient assassin she used to be she would have won, but she's no longer that person and her in-ring work reflects that.
Yes, as an Asuka fan it's understandable for the knee-jerk reaction to be "Damn, she lost!", but watching Asuka being given the chance to develop her character as a heel has truly been one of the high-points of this year in WWE.