Being Realistic On Asuka

[Wildcat66]

I think it's safe to say that Asuka in a way was Braun Strowman before Braun was cool, combine a historic undefeated streak, a monstrous persona that will destroy anyone in her path alongside being a fantastic worker in the ring; Asuka was among the highlights of NXT during her stay. So it comes as to no surprise that she's been pushed, and pushed hard for her main roster debut; even getting two vignettes on last night's RAW.

You would think that with all these credentials she’d be a shoo-in to do amazing things for WWE. And they do. However, I think it’s important for me to say this on the matter before it’s too late. Even if Asuka is booked well, (and there’s a really good chance she will be.) the very moment something starts to go wrong for her will be when fans will start to say that WWE isn’t handling her right.

At this point, it’s become all but a guarantee for some that unless WWE books a certain star exactly as how they were in NXT or catches fire with a great gimmick that is either completely different from or slightly altered from their NXT persona, people are going to say that they aren’t being used correctly. It happened with Rusev, it happened with Kevin Owens, it happened with Sami Zayn, it may be happening to Shinsuke Nakamura to some people and I have no doubt that it’s going to happen to Asuka at some time.

So if you hear from a wrestling podcast or newsletter that WWE isn’t using Asuka to her fullest capabilities, do not be shocked. You can disagree, but it will not be a surprise to me when that day comes. It’s all but inevitable. (Now if she ends up losing in embarrassing fashion and starts taking part in comedy skits, yeah; I’ll be happy to agree with you on that front)

 

[Psykohurricane55]

less face it, i think WWE will shove asuka down the fans throat as soon as she makes her debut on Raw. What i see happening is EMMA wins the titles on sunday, keep the title until survivor series we're she will drop the belt to Asuka in her debut match. Then you will get what i call the Charlotte ''Raw brand'' push we're she will be the focus of the division until a new more popular women wrestler makes her debut on Raw.

That's the problem on Raw is that they always focus on one of the girls and they push her the rest of the division or even worst, forget some of them. I think that why so many of the woman's lose their fanbase, because they get over expose on Raw and i think that's going to be the problem with asuka as well.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

So what you're saying is that people on the internet are going to complain?! The hell you say!!!

Come on. Even when Daniel Bryan was at his peak of popularity there were people on this very forum complaining about him. You can't please everyone. Do I expect her booking to be perfect? No. But I'm one who generally just let's stories play out, rather than complain about every little thing like so many like to do. Why don't we just wait and see what happens before starting a thread that's basic premise is "I told you so."

 

[Psykohurricane55]

i forgot to add this on my previous post so i will put it here instead. Let's face it, their will always be fans complaining about something based on what they heard on wrestling podcast. I always felt that some fans, especially the smarks, are kinda sheep that will believe anything that Meltzer, alvarez or any other podcasters says about a certain WWE wrestlers.

The worst thing about this, is they are threated like expert because of it when in fact it's just based on opinions they have about a certain performer without any experience in actually running a business.

But that how the business is right now, guys like Meltzer will tell something like, their not using Asuka to a full potential on raw and some fans will take that opinion as the gospel when in reality, they don't take into account that on the main roster, they have less days off and more tv to do then in NXT so you can't booked them the same way that you we're on NXT because of it. If you're a top star and Asuka will be the focal point of the women's division when she comes in, she will be over expose, that's just a fact because they will use her on every raw and every PPV and she will be in a feature spot in live events so in the end, how can you booked her the same way you did in NXT when they have double and maybe even triple the dates that they have in NXT ? Really, you can't unless you don't use her on every broadcast but then, you probably going to get fans and podcasters complaining on how they should use her on every Raw. So their damn if they do and damn if they don't

That's the reality of the wrestling business in a way, it'S controlled more then ever by the podcasters and dirt sheet because alot of fans do take their word as the gospel. It's not everybody who's like that but a good group of fans are like that in the IWC and that won't change anytime soon.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

I never understood why Charlotte's PPV streak ended. Undefeated NXT champ Asuka vs undefeated at PPVs Charlotte for the RAW Women's Championship could easily be a headlining match for Summerslam.

 

[The Perfect Max]

Perhaps fans will turn nasty with the treatment of Asuka on the main roster. But there is something that might help her. There are constant (and reasonable) complaints about how the WWE Raw Women's Championship is continuously hot potatoed for absolutely no reason, rendering the title and some champions (I'm thinking Sasha Banks in particular) weak. For instance, her latest reign was pointless and interrupted a great reign by Alexa Bliss. Now I'm just biding my time and waiting for the title to switch again (probably and hopefully to Nia Jax). Now, Asuka must remain undefeated on the main roster for a good amount of time. Must. And I fully expect her to be champion within the first month on the main roster, if not the first night. But that isn't important. What is important is that when she wins the title, it will be immediately viewed as more important than it was before because the fans genuinely invest their time in Asuka. And with a winning streak hopefully remaining in tact for a significant period of time, that means that the title will achieve stability that it has been longing for since its inception. Hopefully, that is enough to keep fans occupied before they then decide after a few months that they don't like the booking.

But let's face it. Even with that overly long explanation as to how WWE may be able to avoid it a little while longer, they will receive criticism regardless of what they do. They always have and always will. The internet will never change and that's the sad reality we can definitely guarantee. I never use the term, but "smarks" will continue to flap their gums and preach their way to do things to suit themselves. But they have no concept of business decision-making, or just the fact that other people have different ways of doing things. Asuka benefits from the fact that her undefeated streak in NXT has become so kayfabe holy that WWE would be incredibly dumb to end it so quickly. Other than Charlotte Flair and perhaps Nia Jax, who else could plausibly end that streak? So, that should keep people happy for so long as possible. And let's face it. People can say whatever they want. Meltzer can bang on as much as he can. Nobody has to listen. Just watch and form your own opinion.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

As Max pointed out, there will be complaints and criticisms no matter what WWE does; WWE will get criticized for something by some fans who'd let the same thing slide if it went down in ROH or the indie scene as a whole as that's just the way it is. That constant barrage of negativity is part of the downside of WWE's success because it makes WWE such an easy and convenient target. As a fan, I'm guilty of this sometimes as well and I often don't really realize I do it until it's already done, though if you're able or even willing to step back and try to look at things objectively, then you can sometimes see why WWE went one direction rather than the other. I sometimes can't help but laugh whenever I hear someone say that WWE needs to be more like ROH or New Japan in this way or that way and even if I do happen to agree, it's an opinion that's rendered nonsensical by the fact that WWE may very well bring in more money than every other active wrestling promotion in the world combined. Their nearest competition, New Japan, took in around $30-$32 million in revenue last year while WWE did some $730+ million last year? So yeah...when your revenue is some 22 times that of what's considered to be your nearest competition, you don't need to operate like they do as you're obviously doing something right.

If Asuka is sort of brought back down to Earth, WWE will catch heat but WWE will catch heat from some fans if she gets a mega push. For me personally, if putting the title on Asuka is the end to the game of hot potato that's plagued the Raw Women's Championship almost since its creation, then that's just fine with me.