5 WWE Superstars who defeated Asuka: How did they win and why?
Asuka cemented her status as one of the greatest female Superstars of her generation by going undefeated in NXT/WWE from October 2015 to April 2018.
Her unprecedented winning streak began at NXT TakeOver: Respect, where she defeated Dana Brooke on her NXT debut, and it finally came to an end with a loss against Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 34.
Since that defeat, “The Empress of Tomorrow” has gone on to lose via pinfall or submission against four other Superstars, with her latest loss coming on the November 4 episode of RAW when she surprisingly tapped out to Natalya’s sharpshooter.
In this article, let’s take a look at all five Superstars who have either pinned the Japanese Superstar or made her submit during her WWE career.
#5 Charlotte Flair
How did Charlotte Flair defeat Asuka?
In the first one-on-one WrestleMania match between female Superstars for 11 years, Charlotte Flair made Asuka tap out to a one-armed Figure Eight to retain her SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 34.
The shocking outcome not only brought an end to Asuka’s undefeated streak after 914 days, but it cemented Flair’s name in the history books as the first person to defeat “The Empress of Tomorrow” in WWE.
Flair also went on to defeat Asuka with a Figure Eight in the Mixed Match Challenge (Flair & Jeff Hardy vs. Asuka & The Miz) in November 2018, while "The Queen" made her submit to the same move when she won the SmackDown Women’s Championship from the Japanese star on SmackDown in March 2019.
Why did Charlotte Flair defeat Asuka?
Well, the Mixed Match Challenge outcome is largely meaningless when it comes to WWE’s storylines. As for the WrestleMania match, the most obvious reason for that outcome is that WWE wanted to make it clear that, at the time, Flair was the company’s top female Superstar, and defeating Asuka was the best way to do that.
Flair’s third win over Asuka is arguably even more controversial than the WrestleMania 34 match, as WWE originally planned for the former undefeated star to defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 35. However, Flair won the title shortly before the event instead, meaning the Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey match could have two titles on the line.