Asuka vs. Emma
What we learned: I don’t know if we learned what we were supposed to here. When this match kicked off the show, I had essentially already written in this spot that we learned Asuka was everything that she’d been built up to be by completely destroying Emma. However, that’s not exactly what happened here, is it?
When you get a debut of this significance, I think it’s important for that person to establish themselves as a new, dominant star on a show, or in a division, and that didn’t happen for Asuka on Sunday night. This was straight 50/50 booking on creative’s part, much like it was when Shinsuke Nakamura debuted on the blue brand against Dolph Ziggler. That’s not to say that I wasn’t impressed by Emma’s performance in this bout, as I thought she looked really good here, but this maybe wasn’t the time for her to get a showcase.
Once this match was over, and on its own, this match was pretty solid, all of the talk should have been about Asuka and how great she looked. However, much of the discussion afterward was how good Emma looked in defeat. That wasn’t the goal here. Sure, it goes to show that the RAW women’s division is good from top to bottom, but you’ve got Monday nights to do that. Asuka’s pay-per-view debut should have been much stronger. I’m not saying that this should have been a squash but the vulnerability that was shown here takes away from the dominating superstar she’s been made out to be.
What’s next: Despite everything I just said, I don’t think it’s going to take long for Asuka to get in the title picture, especially given the result that happened later on, which I’ll get to in a bit. As for Emma, she’s likely going to continue to be just another name on the roster. Perhaps last night’s performance gives her a little push but I don’t see it going much further than that.