10 Opponents Who Would've Been Better Choices For Asuka At WrestleMania 35
When Asuka was defeated at WrestleMania 34, I wasn't thrilled that the longest reigning NXT Women's champion lost to a wrestler who didn't need the win; however, despite walking out of the Grandest Stage of Them All empty-handed, there was still potential for a compelling storyline to come out of Asuka's defeat.
Fast forward to the late fall and Asuka's time on the main roster continued to be a disappointment. WWE Creative did nothing to capitalize on Asuka's fall from grace and her feud with Carmella actually did more harm than good.
However, fans were still behind the 'Empress of Tomorrow' and when she won the Smackdown women's title, it was indeed a joyous moment as it seemed that the company finally understood how to properly book Asuka.
However, since Royal Rumble, where the Smackdown Women's Champion made Becky Lynch tapout, the company clearly had no plans in place for her as she became non-existent on television.
We're less than a few weeks away and unfortunately, it seems like the 'Empress of Tomorrow' will have a WrestleMania match that will be destined for the pre-show. Ideally, Charlotte Flair would've been a perfect foil for Asuka; however, the company decided that Flair needed to be inserted into the Becky Lynch/Ronda Rousey feud.
This Tuesday, we'll finally see the crowning of a #1 contender for the Smackdown Women's title, with Naomi, Sonya Deville, Many Rose, and Carmella all vying for a chance to dethrone the Empress at WrestleMania 35.
All four women are indeed talented, but there's no denying that no matter the outcome, it will be a disappointment. This all goes back to the way these talents have been handled booking wise. I've decided to compile a list of the ten women who would've been a better choice for Asuka at the grandest stage of them all.
I'm also using the short time frame when putting the list together, just to showcase that the Smackdown women's title match could've been compelling despite a two-week build. Let's get started with our first competitor.
#10 Meiko Satomura
Perhaps the most outlandish pick on the list due to the fact that the only ties Satomura has with the WWE is the Mae Young Classic.
The 39-year-old wrestling veteran would virtually be an unknown to a good portion of the audience and thanks to the creative’s lack of care of Asuka since the Royal Rumble, there wouldn’t be much time to build a match-up between these two.
The reason I feel Satomura would be a great foil for the ‘Empress of Tomorrow’ is due to the fact that the Stardom talent and Asuka have ties from the indie scene. In their first encounter back in 2010, Satomura defeated Asuka - who was going under the name Kana then.
Asuka would eventually get her wins back later on (as evidenced with the video provided above); however, WWE can simply ignore that fact and play up Asuka never defeating the wrestling veteran. There have been ideas tossed around about the women’s battle royal being a #1 contender’s match with the winner facing Asuka later on in the night.
Satomura could've won that match-up, with the company showcasing a video of Satomura defeating Asuka, and build up the idea that Asuka has never defeated the veteran throughout her career. While most of the WWE audience wouldn’t have a clue who Satomura is since she’s been barely on any part of WWE television, if the company gave the match-up a proper build up throughout the night then fans could get invested in the bout.
Granted, no one will actually buy Asuka losing; however, Satomura is a great wrestler and I have no doubt that she and Asuka would be able to get the crowd into the match eventually.