WWE TLC 2017 highlights: Asuka vs. Emma

Asuka made her main roster debut for Raw at WWE TLC. Did she defeat Emma?

For the past month, Asuka’s debut has been hyped for the 2017 WWE TLC pay-per-view. She last competed at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, successfully retaining the NXT Women’s Championship against Ember Moon. However, an injury suffered in this match forced the Empress to relinquish the title, which WWE followed by calling her up.

At TLC, Asuka faced off with Emma, a rematch from NXT TakeOver: London in December 2015, and the first opponent to give the Japanese Sensation a full-length match in NXT. You knew the former would win her debut, but it still made for a spectacle as the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN.

Asuka received a nice reaction from the crowd, anticipating her arrival. It seemed surreal to even see her in the ring, having become accustomed to all the times she competed in an NXT ring.

The start of the match was all Asuka, except for a few scrappy moves. She worked a handful of submissions and controlled the pace, before the Aussie jumped in at an opportune time.

Emma stayed competitive as long as she could, using a mean streak to combat Asuka and slow the pace of the match. She even hit the Emma Sandwich in the corner. While it was more offense than you’d expect Asuka to take, the crowd was behind her and the vicious comeback.

As the match continued, the fierce, dominant side of Asuka started to show more. It wasn’t as much as in NXT, as she continued to take offense. Eventually, the Asuka lock was applied and the debuting superstar won the match.

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It wasn’t the quick, domination match that Asuka had in her NXT debut at TakeOver: Respect. Emma looked as credible and equal as possible to her opponent, which was an interesting call if you’ve seen any of Asuka’s work at Full Sail. It didn’t normalize her as much as Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows in their 2016 debuts, but the lengthy match surely didn’t help establish how ruthless of a woman she should be in the Raw Women’s division at WWE TLC.