Ember Moon and Asuka’s Feud is Ready for WWE Raw

Credit: WWE.com

Ember Moon and Asuka had one of the hottest feuds on NXT. Catch up on the action and get ready to see them together on Raw!

Ember Moon has made her main roster debut on Raw, and she’s already got a fan: Asuka!

The warm welcome may have surprised a few people given their history on NXT. For those of us that followed the feud, there’s nothing more exciting than the idea of them bringing their amazing in-ring chemistry to the main roster. If you didn’t watch their battle over the Women’s Championship on NXT, it’s time to get caught up.

Credit: WWE.com

NXT TakeOver Brooklyn II

While Asuka and Ember Moon didn’t actually compete in this pay-per-view, it was a milestone for both wrestlers. This was Ember’s NXT debut, and while she only had a short match with Billie Kay, it is a great showcase of her abilities, her agility, and her strength. It’s also the first time we get to see her stunning finisher, The Eclipse. It only took one match for NXT fans to start clamoring for her to get a shot at the championship, and it’s easy to see why. Ember Moon is a warrior goddess right out of the gate, and from her debut forward, the crowd is on her side.

Meanwhile, it’s Asuka’s first title defense against Bayley after having won the title from her earlier that year at TakeOver Dallas. Asuka’s submission win over Bayley in Dallas was brutal and unexpected- nobody thought NXT’s favorite babyface was due for a loss -and it cemented Asuka as an unstoppable force. It’s a heart-stopping match, and a great showcase for both competitors, but Asuka ultimately triumphs with a brutal kick to the head that lays Bayley out for good. After Asuka scored her second decisive win against Bayley, it seemed like Asuka just couldn’t be beaten. After all, If Bayley can’t beat Asuka, who can?

Credit: WWE.com

For the next six months, both Asuka and Ember would spend time building up their reputations in the NXT universe. While Asuka had been a force to be reckoned with before she won the title, it quickly became clear that her championship reign would not be a peaceful one for the rest of the women’s division.

Asuka established herself as NXT‘s most dominant heel, taking out both new talents and returning champions and resorting to increasingly underhanded and violent tactics to keep her streak intact. Ember’s reputation also builds as she spends her year battling her way through the women’s division on an undefeated streak of her own. Unlike Asuka, Ember prioritizes sportsmanship and fair matches, shaking hands with her opponents and talking about the importance of honor in her backstage promos.

Nobody can beat Asuka, but nobody can beat Ember either. Soon Ember is calling out Asuka at every opportunity, demanding a shot at the title. But Asuka doesn’t believe that a good sport like Ember is a real challenge for her title, and refuses to take her seriously.

Finally, Ember gets Asuka’s attention in the most dramatic way possible: after Asuka defeats Peyton Royce, the Iconic Duo gets their revenge by jumping Asuka before she can leave the ring. Ember runs in to defend Asuka, singlehandedly fighting off both Billie and Peyton. Asuka responds with a smile and a nod- then runs back and holds the belt out to Ember.

From there, it’s just a countdown to their first championship match. Luckily, they don’t have long to wait.

Credit: WWE.com

NXT TakeOver Orlando

By the time Ember and Asuka finally meet in the ring, the match is officially streak VS streak: Asuka has retained the Women’s Championship for 356 days, and Ember has not lost a match at NXT yet. Ember is convinced she’s the woman who is finally going to take Asuka down. Asuka maintains that there isn’t anybody in the WWE that can beat her- after all, “Nobody is ready for Asuka!”

This was the match that established Ember as a true contender to break Asuka’s streak. When the match starts, Asuka mocks Ember, dancing and laughing. Ember takes the match deadly seriously, ignoring Asuka’s taunts and unleashing increasingly brutal strikes in response.

They match each other blow for blow, Ember meeting Asuka’s strike-based offense with flying body blows and powering out of submissions with incredible shows of strength. The result is twenty minutes of straight-up amazing wrestling, where both Asuka and Ember push each other to the limits of their abilities. In the end, Ember is unable to land her finisher when Asuka literally pushes the referee into her, thwarting the Eclipse and giving Asuka a window to get the pin.

It’s the closest Asuka comes to losing the belt in NXT– that is, until her next TakeOver match with Ember.

Credit: WWE.com

NXT TakeOver Brooklyn III 

After her loss at TakeOver Orlando, Ember is laser-focused on continuing to build her reputation and remaining in contention for the women’s title. Unfortunately, a shoulder injury sidelined her from an opportunity to face Asuka in Chicago. They continue to taunt each other in promos, occasionally coming to blows in the ring, but they don’t get their actual rematch until TakeOver Brooklyn III.

TakeOver Brooklyn III is a big match for Ember for a lot of reasons: it is the anniversary of her first official appearance on NXT and it’s her second chance to win the Women’s Championship. Asuka is favored to win, but for the first time, it doesn’t seem as certain. This could be Ember’s night.

Unfortunately for Ember, Asuka made it to the main roster with her streak intact. Even though Ember doesn’t get her title, it’s an incredible match. Asuka is at her peak as a villian, taking control of the match early and working Ember’s injured shoulder with a series of standing holds.

Ember struggles to regain control of the match, relying on step-up kicks and her good arm to answer Asuka’s blows. The match is quick and furious, and culminates with Ember finally landing her Eclipse on Asuka, but her weakened shoulder means the finisher doesn’t land as hard as it should. Asuka kicks out of the Eclipse, so Ember goes for a second attempt.  Asuka hides behind a ref, so Ember jumps OVER the ref to hit Asuka with a flying cross-body blow. In the end, Asuka tricks Ember into submitting to an Asuka Lock, and the fight is over.

At this point, it seemed like Asuka’s streak was Ember’s to break. Sadly, it wasn’t to be.

Credit: WWE.com

NXT War Games

TakeOver Brooklyn III was the last time Asuka competed in NXT. A neck injury sustained at the pay-per-view (and an impending call-up to Raw) ended her time on the program. She vacated the women’s title, much to the disappointment of her fans and Ember’s fans alike.

After Asuka’s departure, NXT’s women’s division went through a series of contests to determine who would compete for the vacated title. Four women earned the honor: Sanity’s resident madwoman Nikki Cross; the iconic Peyton Royce, the pirate princess Kairi Sane, and of course Ember Moon.

All of the women in the match seemed like a possibility for the new champion. Kairi was new and exciting, and her killer elbow drop was undefeated. Peyton Royce was a fan favorite who had fought Asuka for the title before, and was ready to be in the title picture again. Nikki was brutal and unpredictable, and had gotten a major push from winning a battle royale to compete in the four-way. However, most fans agreed: this time, it was Ember’s night.

The crowd is solidly behind Ember for most of the match (though to be fair, they also really love Kairi). Ember is as brutal in this fight as we have ever seen her, kicking and punching distracted opponents and whipping Kairi across the ring multiple times. Peyton manages to suplex both from the top rope and it looks like the fight is over, but Ember manages to kick out. Nikki wreaks a path of destruction through the ring until Ember lays her out with a kick.

Finally, the match ends with a stunning moment as Ember climbs to the top ropes and lands an incredible two-woman Eclipse on Nikki AND Ember, pinning for the win.

And then, surprise! It’s Asuka, here to present her rival with the championship belt!

This was a genuinely sweet moment between the two friends and competitors, although I was mostly relieved that Asuka didn’t attempt to pin Ember after she handed the belt over. It seemed like a shame that they’d never gotten the chance to end their rivalry with an actual match, but Asuka had moved on to the main roster, and Ember now had the NXT Women’s Division to worry about. How long would it be until they met in the ring again?

Credit: WWE.com

The 2018 Royal Rumble

Thanks to the 2018 Royal Rumble, not that long!

The smart money was on Ember making an appearance at the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble. After all, as the reigning NXT women’s champ, she would be the best person to represent the brand at this historic event. And while Kairi Sane was called out first at number six, Ember got one of the biggest cheers of the night at number 23. Ember entered the ring with her arm in a cast, a souvenir from a brutal match at the previous night’s TakeOver Philadelphia, where she held on to her title by the skin of her teeth in a match with new monster heel Shayna Baszler. But if anybody on NXT knows how to fight a monster and come back strong, it’s Ember Moon.

Then Asuka came in at number 25.

It was instantly apparent that they still had their old chemistry. Asuka gave Ember a cheerful greeting and gestured to Ember’s cast, smiling and teasing her about the injury.  In response Ember screamed in anger, calling Asuka out again. They had a quick and vicious match, and Ember even managed to land a one-armed Eclipse on Asuka.

But we all know who won the Women’s Royal Rumble, right? Asuka eliminated Ember by getting her over the top rope and working her injured arm until she lost her grip, handing Ember her first loss on a non-WWE pay-per-view.

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As it stands, Ember has still never gotten her win against Asuka. Knowing Ember, it’ll only be a matter of time until she sets her sights on Asuka on Raw. Asuka’s streak is broken, but she’s still the same fierce competitor she ever was. Now that they’re both on the main roster, the possibilities are endless.  Fans of Asuka and Ember alike will be watching to see where things go next.

(Unless they get separated in the Superstar Shake-Up. If that happens, at least there’s still hope for dual branded pay-per-views.)