WWE: The Case Against Total Domination

WWE’s two most untouchable superstars, Asuka and Brock Lesnar, both walked out of SummerSlam weekend in tact. Is that a good thing?

Untouchable. Unstoppable. Undefeated. That’s how WWE described NXT Women’s Champion Asuka this weekend at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn. When she walked out of Barclays with the belt around her waist, there was one question on everyone’s minds. How do you get it off of her now? Later in the SummerSlam weekend, the same happened to Brock Lesnar. While not technically undefeated, we’re all pretending that the whole Goldberg thing doesn’t count and he is still the most dominating force in WWE programming. Both finishes had us scratching our heads, where does WWE go from here? Perhaps in two divisions as competitive as these, there’s not really a place for wholly dominating figures and undefeated streaks.

I’m not just talking about when tough guys are booked tough. Braun Strowman can squash three jobbers in one night for all I care. The issue comes in when the streak controls the entire story and forces WWE into a creative direction that isn’t necessarily the best one. In both of these cases, it feels very much like the story has run its course. Yet, we’re still holding onto the concept of them being so untouchable that no one, not three of the toughest guys or one of the brightest future stars of the women’s division, could get the job done. Ultimately, wrestling needs to move forward and total domination prevents that from happening.

Let’s start Asuka, and first off, I was a massive fan of the Asuka vs. Ember Moon match and NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn. It was a great match and my favorite I’ve ever seen live. When Moon made her entrance last Saturday night, it was clear that it was do or die for her. If she didn’t get it tonight, she was over, she was done. Perhaps that’s dramatic but it’s not unfounded. There is speculation that she’s coming up to the main roster, but she was nowhere to be found this past week. If not the NXT Women’s Championship, what is next for her? How can she overcome how much the WWE Universe has cooled on her and how irrelevant she seems at this point in time? Yes, I’m making this about Moon rather than about Asuka but let’s not forget that there are always two people in any storyline.

Meanwhile, Asuka’s fate may not be much better. She vacated the title this past week in a taping of NXT. It doesn’t seem to be clear whether that was the plan all along in an attempt to make her seem too big for NXT or if they made the call based on the injury she sustained. Regardless, Asuka needs to go away and heal before showing up on Raw or SmackDown and immediately winning gold there. The vast majority of fans found out via Twitter that she had relinquished the belt. For something as monumental as Asuka’s run, it was disappointing.

Lesnar isn’t quite painted into that corner as of yet, but he sure is close. Three of the most talented competitors on Raw gave that match their all and somehow couldn’t put Lesnar away. There was no real story about why. At best, you could say that Lesnar was humiliated by Braun Strowman and became more dangerous than before. One tiny almost-cheating move of Lesnar pulling the ref out from a count is the only thing that could possibly explain this away, and it’s weak. So if not here and now with one of these megastars, then where, when and who?

Again, this booking seriously affects more than just Lesnar. Roman Reigns took yet another pin at the hands of Lesnar, which doesn’t bode well for that WrestleMania rematch that seems inevitable one day. Strowman made an absolute star out of himself. That whole crowd was on their feet for him and if he had pulled it off, he would easily be one of the most over champions in a very long time. The fact that he didn’t makes a tough case for his match at No Mercy. Then there’s Samoa Joe, who, while a wrestling genius, probably had the most underwhelming role of all four men in this match. He didn’t really do much at all and after his last meeting with Lesnar, it felt like his time. So no one walks away with a whole lot of added value.

Totally dominate characters make sense on paper. In sports, we idolize the Ronda Rouseys and the Simone Biles’ of the world, so it natural that WWE tries to model that in their characters. The problem is that like in reality, it all has to come to an end somehow. Rousey’s fall from grace should be example enough. Even if you stay dominant, like Biles is likely to, time only moves in one direction. It doesn’t stay still, even for heroes. Asuka can’t keep doing this forever, neither can Lesnar. If their strength isn’t used to elevate other competitions as well, what do we do when it’s over? WWE does not need to paint themselves into this corner, they’re choosing to.

More wwe: Ranking All 16 Superstars to Win MITB

Instead of making strong creative decisions, WWE is leaning against two utterly untouchable competitors. Asuka literally never lost on WWE TV, and Lesnar doesn’t like to talk about that Golberg thing. What’s it going to take to get these two off of the top of the mountain? It’s starting to feel like the only thing left is for them to fight each other. Some people will surely argue that you don’t need to come off from on top of that mountain. Asuka can retire undefeated and that’s fine. I don’t buy into that, though. Everyone involved with a dominating figure is frozen and everything that they do serves to preserve the streak. That’s just not what I want out of my wrestling.