Six Must Opponents for Asuka on the Main Roster
Natalya
So we kick start things off today with a Smackdown LIVE superstar. Okay okay so I know that Asuka has been "drafted" to Monday night RAW but as I said in the intro there are a number of women over on the blue brand I would love to see Asuka collide with and while I believe there are just as many women I would love to see her go head to head with on RAW a part of me still feels as though she should have been a free agent but thats something I'm going to be talking about in more detail very soon! Now, the reason I'm starting things of today with Natalya really does speak for itself, it's a dream match. This is a one on one bout I have been wanting to see for the past year or so now. Unlike a lot of the other women I'll be talking about today I don't believe we will get a killer good storyline between the two but what we would see from them in the ring really could so easily be something magical. Their styles would compliment each others really well and I would love to see two women who really do know how to perfect a damn good submission hold on one another back and fourth. The pair would make for an intense match up and honestly, looking at the current state of both divison on RAW and Smackdown LIVE I would much rather right now see Asuka challenge Natalya for her championship over Bliss simply because I believe what we would see from these two when in the ring would come across a lot stronger thanks to Nattie's style in the ring and her experience. A decent story could be built also, Natalya has been here for ten years, she's seen at all and some of the best women have fought her, adding Asuka to that list and having Natalya feel as though her title as the most experience veteran on the roster could make for a great story not to mention Nattie's mention of her history and family background.
Sasha Banks
If you have been following me for the past year and a half or so you will not be surprised to see Sasha Banks feature in this list. Pretty much from the moment Asuka really got started over in NXT I have been saying both here on my blog and over on social media that I would love to see her collide with a heel Sasha Banks and as the year has progressed I've honestly settled for seeing them both go one on one regardless of who is the heel and who is the baby face. The night Asuka made her in ring debut was the night Sasha Banks waved goodbye to NXT back at Takeover Respect meaning we just about missed out on a collision between the two and so far the past two years all I have wanted is to see the pair go one on one. Back when the NXT women's divison was at its highest and the four horsewomen were dominating the roster Sasha Banks was the top dog and one of the most impressive standout women in the divisions history. Working some of the best matches we have seen from the WWE women's divison she stood toe to toe against the likes of Becky Lynch, Charlotte and Bayley breaking down barriers and making an impact. After a fantastic run down in NXT it was time for a new women to take center stage when the boss was moved up to the main roster, that women would be Asuka and boy did she make an impact. Taking things to a whole new level Asuka changed the feel of the NXT women's division making it her divison. While I didn't find myself as entertained by her matches as I did Banks the WWE were telling a fantastic story with Asuka and she became the most dominant force in NXT history. By the end of her run in NXT I was able to list a number of matches that stood out for me during Asuka's time in developmental and it was clear that both Banks and Asuka made a big impact in NXT for different reasons and their rivalry is something that i have wanted to see throughout the past couple of years. For a while now things haven't been good for Banks. Her title reigns have been embarrassing, fans are slowly losing faith and the WWE seem to be finding new women to take center stage pushing Banks further down the roster. Of course, she still a focus point in the divison and continues to impress and standout but there is no denying things haven't gone as we all expected. With Asuka's arrival on the main roster loading I'm super excited to see what is to come and when the announcement was made the first thing I thought was oh my god we're going to see Asuka vs Sasha Banks. It's a true dream match and the story that could be told between them has the potential to be a true standout and work as one of the most captivating in the WWE right now if done correctly not to mention the obvious which is these two could hands down put on one of the best matches we have seen from the divison in years if not of all time if again done right and is given enough time.
Alexa Bliss
When I was writing the notes for this blog post I ended up having a little problem. There were certain superstars I knew for a fact I wanted to feature but there were two women I just could not decide between and one of those women were Alexa Bliss. Not knowing whether to put her or Smackdown LIVE's Becky Lynch in the post I had no idea what to do but in the end I decided to first write about Bliss for the obvious reasons. With Asuka moving to Monday night RAW very soon there are a number of women on the roster I would love to see her face off against but one of the women I really want to see the former NXT champion challenge is the current (as I write this post) RAW women's champion, Alexa Bliss. For the past year or so Bliss has been one of the most talked about, impressive women in the WWE after being drafted to the main roster joining the Blue brand last Summer. Since then she has shown crazy strong improvements in the ring, as a character and on the mic and has become a true fan favourite and standout in the women's divison. The WWE have pushed her to the stars making her a two time RAW and Smackdown LIVE women's champion. She has competed against some of the best names on both shows including Sasha Banks, Mickie James, Becky Lynch and Bayley and has taken control of both rosters when a part of them. Through every opponent Bliss has been able to get her way through title matches still holding onto her championship but there is one women I doubt very much little miss Bliss will be able to out smart, the undefeated Asuka. With Bliss' story being the way it is and Alexa working as the cocky, arrogant, sneaky heel champion seeing her collide with the empress of tomorrow would be epic! While I doubt the match would be as strong as something you would get between Asuka and Banks I would still have a massive interest in the story and the match itself and this could very easily be one of the best options for Asuka's debut rivalry on the main roster and the perfect women to dethrone Bliss. With Alexa's character in a better place now than it was the last time these two went face to face this is a rivalry I could totally enjoy and the transition from one champion to another here would be one to watch and favor both women. The right feud, opponent and story to kick start the empress of tomorrow's reign on the main the roster.
Bayley
Up next is an obvious pick but one I had to include because honestly, it's one of the rivalries I want to see more than any other on this list today. Unlike every other women to feature in today's blog post there is a strong history between Bayley and Asuka. Sharing time in NXT we got to see these two work one of the best rivalries in the NXT women's divisions history. It's a feud that sticks in my head and one I'm constantly going back and checking out because of how good the storytelling was and how decent the in ring work was. One of Asuka's original big feuds, this was the rivalry that kick started Asuka's dominant reign as champion down in NXT. With Bayley finally champion and on top the world was delighted to see the fan favourite as champion. Having a solid reign Bayley took on some of the best names NXT had to offer including Nia Jax, Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss and of course Asuka but the later proved too difficult for the leader of the hug life and dropped her title to Asuka during Wrestlemania weekend a couple of years ago at an NXT takeover event. The match not only saw the start of Asuka's reign but a new Bayley born. Forced to up her game, grow tougher and adapt her style and attitude in order to get her title back but of course she came up short once again and was unable to reclaim the NXT women's championship. Up on the main roster things haven't gone down well for Bayley at all. She's fitted in a couple of decent matches against Charlotte and Alexa Bliss but in comparison to what she could have done the past year has been very very disappointing. The WWE have killed her character and that famous connection she had with the fans has struggled massively. What she needs is a damn good story and series of brilliant matches to put her back on track. While I'm not the biggest fan of Asuka moving to Monday night RAW it does mean that a door of opportunity has been opened for Bayley and boy does she need it. Asuka is the one women Bayley was unable to defeat in NXT, she drove her out of developmental and was Bayley's biggest challenge. Seeing the two collide again on the main roster is a must and not only that, but when it comes to who I would like to see end Asuka's undefeated streak, Bayley is right at the top and that story could so easily work as a top match over on a Wrestlemania card and really save Bayley. A feud coming full circle? Yeah I can get behind that.
Becky Lynch
I know I just mentioned that I wasn't sure whether to have Alexa Bliss or Becky Lynch in this post and how I only wanted to include one of the two women but come on, they both deserve a place in this post and I have to talk about both. I've mentioned in the past that I haven't been as high on Becky Lynch as a lot of the WWE universe but I'm not stupid, I can see how talented Lynch and I can see her potential, if she was given the time to actually work a match she could easily impress us all and compete in a standout bout against any opponent. There is however, one women in particular I seriously believe she could work a fantastic must see match against, Asuka. The two women have such a distinct, interesting style and while it doesn't always work against some opponents if the two were pitted against one another I'm confident we could get something very special go down. Both massively confident in the ring it would be interesting seeing the two collide and the story that could be told would be pretty damn cool too. I do feel as though there in ring work would be stronger than the story by far and in fact putting them on pay per view against one another with a very simple story could be a huge success. Just like a lot of the women on this list today I really do feel as though Asuka could bring out the best in Lynch and possibly bring out her best WWE match to date.
Charlotte
And finally we have my personal number one pick, Charlotte. When I was taking notes for this blog post and going through everything there was one name I got behind more than any, the queen herself. When you talk about some of the most dominant women in the WWE right now and the history of the WWE there are two new names that will pop up on pretty much everyone's list, Charlotte and Asuka. Both NXT bred these are two women that have changed the game and regardless will go down in history. Their WWE career's have been very very similar with both women making such a massive impact. Down in NXT Charlotte very quickly became the face of the divison after defeating Natalya to become only the second NXT women's champion and her reign was damn impressive. The matches we saw go down between her and Sasha Banks in particular remain some of my favourites and throughout her time there we saw Charlotte improve more and more as the weeks went by and one thing that became very clear early on was that she was brilliant in ring performer. When moved over to the main roster we finally got see the improvements made with her character and after
And that is the list! I had loads of fun writing this post and it honestly made me even more excited for Asuka's main roster arrival. I do still believe that Smackdown LIVE is the better place for her or at least having her work as a free agent but I'm still really excited and I cannot wait for the empress of tomorrow to make her impact on Monday night RAW. As always, I will be live tweeting throughout all shows next week including NXT and you can let me know what you think of today's blog post and who you would like to see Asuka go face to face with on either RAW or Smackdown LIVE by leaving a comment bellow or by dropping me a tweet over at @TezangiVictoria.
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