D1 - AJ Lee versus Asuka

[Dave]

Day 1 of the inaugral WrestleZone International Cup begins with tag team matches that pit Team U.S.A against Team R.O.W in randomly assigned matches. Who will gain the early advantage in the Cup and who will let their team down? Let the debate begin!

Boards are open for 1 day for discussion and then polling will begin in 24 hours. Polling lasts for 48 hours afterwards. The winning team gets the point. In the event of a draw, teams will half a point each.

 

[Dave]

This is another great match up - The Battle of the Streaks as it will come to be known...

AJ would probably still be the longest reigning Diva's Champion right now if she and her husband didn't leave the WWE in dubious circumstances. What AJ did, after being a glorified valet for so many years, is nothing short of remarkable. She really turned his career around and made people take notice of her. Fans gravitated towards her because she seemed like one of their own and it worked out for her. She was one of the better women in the ring before the women's revolution, truth be told.

But I still have to go with Asuka. I don't remember any great matches that AJ had, to be quite honest. She was decent but she wasn't one of the greats. I really think that Asuka has the potential to be one of the greatest women wrestlers the WWE has ever seen. And the WWE seem to know that too. She has held the NXT Women's Championship longer than anyone. And, I think, longer than any NXT title holder. Not to mention that her matches are utterly fantastic for the most part. She would be far too strong for AJ and that's the truth of it.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

I might catch hell for this, but I truly believe AJ Lee may be the most overrated competitor on either Cup roster.

She is a manic pixie dream girl trope. Every memorable moment she ever had was at the expense of putting a man over. Daniel Bryan, Kane, Dolph Ziggler, and CM Punk...and even some lesbian pollen because screw logic. For me her run as Diva's Champion didn't mesh well. Was she a good character? By far the best in her division. Did she elevate the title and participate in decent feuds? Not in the slightest.

AJ Lee was a crazy skipping woman and that's it. I mostly blame the roster at the time for not having better opponents for her, but history is what it is. Asuka is still wrecking everybody on NXT and I wouldn't bat an eye if she became the next Chyna.

 

[Uncle Sam]

I don't remember any great matches that AJ had, to be quite honest.

I'll throw this out there: AJ Lee versus Kaitlyn at Payback was better than any match Asuka has ever had in NXT. That isn't to detract from Asuka (I'm particularly fond of the match she had with Emma at Takeover London) but rather to say in how high a regard I hold that match, and in how high a regard I hold AJ Lee.

To paraphrase Michael Cole, some say AJ Lee started the women's revolution. Only, yeah, she kind of did. After years and years of the women's division being dominated by people who couldn't run the ropes or string two sentences together, here was someone who was putting on better matches and cutting better matches than anyone of any gender. And she was only just above five foot tall. Look, if it's impressive for Rey Mysterio to be a world class wrestler despite being short, it's impressive for AJ Lee.

One of the greatest pities in the last five years is that AJ Lee split - just like her husband split - but she didn't have a chance to mix it up with Sasha, or Charlotte, or Bayley, or Nia.

But Asuka, as of this date, is literally unstoppable. It's hard to see past that.

 

[Bernkastel]

I like Asuka more than I like AJ, but despite that I know AJ's accomplishments and influence trump hers. Asuka was just one of the many notable performers wrestling on the Japanese circuit the past 10 years, and she's certainly no Manami Toyota or Lioness Asuka [her namesake.] I believe that her looks and experience in promotions like SHIMMER played the biggest role in WWE hiring her, instead of her talent as a wrestler. She is, after all, a former model.

Asuka likely has way more potential though. If her mega run was happening on the main roster instead of NXT, then I'd give her the nod. The talent pool in the women's division today is far deeper than it was 5 years ago. But AJ was able to breathe some life back into the women's division after a string of disastrous champions like Eve Torres and Kelly Kelly. She had a number of memorable segments with Punk, Bryan, and Kane and feuds against Vickie Guerrero, Kaitlyn, and Paige.

Asuka, for much of her career, has been more of a journeywoman, lending her talents for various sized promotions over the years. One of the few noteworthy singles titles that she did hold was the JWP Openweight Championship, which was one of the oldest joshi-puro titles. AJ not only managed to carve out a spot for herself as the face of the women's division in the most mainstream wrestling promotion on the planet, but she almost single-handily made the entire division entertaining again. The biggest argument against her is that her talent pool wasn't very deep. However, she was so relevant as a star that her successes weren't overshadowed by her husband. Fans cheered AJ Lee because she was AJ Lee, not simply because she was CM Punk's wife. Unlike, you know, Brie Bella and Daniel Bryan.

Voting AJ Lee.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

AJ Lee was a lot of fun and she had a real quirky sexiness about her. Asuka, however, is so far out of her league that it's not even funny and poor AJ will fucking die in this match.

I could see Asuka underestimating AJ going into things, thereby allowing AJ to get the drop on her for a little bit. However, what happens before too long is that Asuka wakes up, is pissed off and just tears AJ apart.

 

[Skairipa Matrix]

Yeah I'm going Asuka here. I thinkk this would be a really fun match to watch and I think AJ would hold her own just fine, but in the end Asuka is going to win. Asuka is too unstoppable and AJ hasn't faced anybody like her.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I might catch hell for this, but I truly believe AJ Lee may be the most overrated competitor on either Cup roster.

She is a manic pixie dream girl trope. Every memorable moment she ever had was at the expense of putting a man over. Daniel Bryan, Kane, Dolph Ziggler, and CM Punk...and even some lesbian pollen because screw logic. For me her run as Diva's Champion didn't mesh well. Was she a good character? By far the best in her division. Did she elevate the title and participate in decent feuds? Not in the slightest.

AJ Lee was a crazy skipping woman and that's it. I mostly blame the roster at the time for not having better opponents for her, but history is what it is. Asuka is still wrecking everybody on NXT and I wouldn't bat an eye if she became the next Chyna.

I'm not saying you are wrong, but I did put AJ on my list. The reason being, she has name recognitation. That is pretty big in wrestling. Her in ring work was above average, but she was shining bright in a period of darkness. That and her fun gimmick and solid mic work were all out into a solid package. That was what helped propel her to such heights. I think she deserves discussion for inclusion.

Asuka was a fairly big deal in Japan and she has yet to be pinned or submit in NXT. She never lost her title in thirty seconds to a debuting star like AJ did either.