WWE: 5 Bold Predictions for 2018

Credit: WWE.com

5. Asuka Will Be Ruined

Asuka will be the next Finn Balor and that’s not a good thing.

I don’t know why but the WWE seems to have trouble with female stars coming from NXT. There is a deep plunge when it comes to the momentum a wrestler enjoys on the yellow/black brand and when they inevitably make the jump to Raw or SmackDown. Days before her release, Emma (who went from NXT to Raw then back to NXT) was being featured in high-profile matches against Asuka and served as her introduction to the main roster. Dana Brooke came to Raw in 2016 after being heavily featured in matches against Asuka while the two were in NXT and since her call-up has been largely absent from in-ring competition or major storylines, except for losing to Asuka in 5 seconds.

Lately, Asuka has been dominating jobbers on Raw which still puzzles me in this day and age. Does the WWE seriously think fans don’t know who she is or that defeating anonymous create-a-characters will make us buy into her dominance? This same nonsense is being used for The Bludgeon Brothers as if fans have forgotten that both Rowan and Harper can actually wrestle and were once a major part of WWE folklore.

Asuka was given the spotlight at TLC and Survivor Series where she was the last woman standing for Team Raw and even scored the final two pinfalls. What all of this means is that WWE is setting her up for failure in the same way they did for Balor. When The Demon King came up from NXT (after a lengthy championship reign just like Asuka), he immediately defeated stars such as Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins on his way to becoming the inaugural Universal Champion. An unexpected labrum tear would end his momentum and his subsequent feuds with other mid-card stars like Elias Samson and Bray Wyatt have done nothing to raise Balor’s stock value since he returned.

The problem with starting someone at the top of the mountain is that the only place to go is down. With several strong female personalities such as Alexa Bliss, Sasha Banks, and Paige, this mountain is only going to get more crowded which is great for the brand as a whole but does little for an individual wrestler billed as “one of the greatest champions in WWE history”. The WWE has built Asuka’s reputation on her unstoppable nature and undefeated record in NXT that cannot possibly hold up on Raw. Once her streak is over, so will be the mythology surrounding her character.