WWE Raw: Results, Highlights, Analysis, and Grades for January 29

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Sasha Banks vs. Asuka

Result: Asuka defeated Sasha Banks via submission

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Let’s be perfectly clear: This was not the time for Asuka’s undefeated streak to end. I’m fairly certain that everyone in the Wells Fargo Center, plus everyone around the world, knew this to be true.

But just because the outcome is a certainty doesn’t mean the match has to be boring, as evidenced by what we saw tonight. In this first time matchup, both Banks and Asuka were on their A game. The ferocity with which both superstars approached the match led to some scary looking moments, but the end result was still the best match of the night thus far – and one of the best overall.

The worst looking spot came on a Sasha Banks suicide dive attempt that was dangerously close to being too literal. She caught her feet on the ropes, but Asuka was launching a kick to block it. End result – Sasha bouncing head first off the apron and the arena floor. Yeesh. Looked awful, but Sasha continued.

Asuka took a nasty spill moments later – going for her patented hip attack, but missing and going through the ropes to the outside. Sasha’s meteora knee strikes were a little stiff, leading to Asuka being stiff in return. This was a hard-hitting, but quality encounter.

Asuka wins with the Asuka Lock, which is almost as well protected as the Red Arrow was for a while. No one escapes that hold. But the ease with which The Empress of Tomorrow locks in the move is crazy – did you see how quick she got over on the armbar? Unreal.

Both superstars look better after a match like this, even if they feel awful from the crazy falls they each took. After a couple of ice packs and a good night’s sleep, they’ll look back on this fondly.