WWE Retrospective: Ember Moon should have ended Asuka’s streak

Booking decisions can make or break a WWE Superstar and Ember Moon continues to struggle from the choice to have her not defeat Asuka in NXT.

Professional wrestling is an industry where a performer can ride a wave of momentum into a booking run that sees them become a major star. It’s also the industry where a performer can see their momentum halted via booking decisions and never regain any prominence in the organization.

Ember Moon is such a performer as her time with the WWE hasn’t lived up to what the singles wrestler can bring to the table. For many, her struggles can be tracked back to singular point that involved the decision to not have her end Asuka’s undefeated streak. Looking back, one must wonder if the right decision was made nearly two years ago.

The WWE has taken to showing recent, high stakes matches from past events considering the inability to create new content. On Monday Night Raw this past week, the WrestleMania match between Charlotte Flair and Asuka was shown.

It was a reminder to how great this contest was, but that greatness wasn’t the talking point in the immediate aftermath of the reshowing. People were discussing the mistake in the decision for Flair to end Asuka’s streak. Instead, many across the social space felt that Moon should have been the woman to take Asuka’s title and streak when they faced off back at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III.

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Looking back at that moment, Moon was riding a way of momentum she has not seen since. She was coming off an injury, but was still garnering a strong reaction from fans in Full Sail. Back then, it was clear that Asuka was destined for the main roster.

However, the surprise was the decision for Asuka to remain unbeaten and relinquish the women’s title, rather than “doing the job” to Moon to help her look strong on her way out. That decision hampered the women’s division, but especially Moon. Even though she would win the title, the lack of a win over Asuka would place an asterisk of sorts on her title status.

Moon would hold the title for more than half of 2018, before dropping the belt to Shayna Baszler and heading up to the main roster. That change of scenery wouldn’t lead to positivity for her WWE run. Not only would Moon find herself foundering in meaningless feuds without any clear stakes, injuries hampered her time and time again.

Her “moment” came when Bayley selected her as a challenger for SummerSlam, but this came only after losing multiple matches to Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville and just before going on yet another losing streak. Moon went from being one of the most interesting additions to the women’s roster, to being yet another face that was stuck playing second string in a women’s division that has a strict glass ceiling.

Ember Moon has everything that is needed to be a feature name in the women’s division. She’s just as good bell to bell as any of the Four Horsewomen, she has a different look than the rest of the women’s roster and she has one of the best-looking finishers in the game with the Eclipse. Unfortunately, she’s yet another wrestler who has been pigeon-holed into a spot that she can’t seem to get out of.

Moon was surging to the proverbial moon, but the decision to have her lose to Asuka instead of having her end the streak is the one decision that has held back her WWE run to date.