Opinion: WWE has been subtly teasing Asuka using the Green Mist for years
Hell In A Cell saw new WWE Women's Tag Team Champions crowned as Asuka and Kaira Sane defeated Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross to win the titles, but the big story of the match was the former SmackDown Women's Champion unleashing her inner Tajiri to win the match.
While much of the WWE Universe believed, possibly rightly so, that the former NXT Women's Champion was paying homage to another legendary Japanese WWE Superstar in her use of the Green Mist, WWE have actually been teasing Asuka adding the "move" to her repertoire for several years now.
The Green Mist descends over Asuka...
At one point, Asuka was one of WWE's most dominant Superstars, going through NXT undefeated and only losing her first match to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania after 914 days without a loss, with a Royal Rumble win included.
However, the Green Mist has been teased for a long time, and was unleashed at the most opportune time this evening.
Asuka is famed for wearing masks on the way to the ring, and one of the Royal Rumble winner's masks actually teased the use of the green mist years before she actually unleashed it.
Why tonight?
Well, it's simple, really. Asuka has been a face for much of her WWE tenure, and while Tajiri was often cheered while using the mist, it isn't exactly the type of move a babyface would bring into their moveset.
Tonight, though, Asuka and Kairi Sane seemed to somewhat turn heel, using the vehicle of the Green Mist to do so - not only giving the move the platform it deserves, as noted when the WWE Universe popped for the use of the unorthodox move, but also with the move holding enough significance to crown new Tag Team Champions and become one of the hottest topics in WWE right now.
One other interesting point to note would be that the mask that hints at the mist is a Kabuki mask, and with Asuka being a part of the Kabuki warriors, and The Great Kabuki being the first wrestler to ever use the mist, the use of the move tonight was the culmination of long-term planning at its finest.
But it was always brewing beneath the surface, much like Asuka and Sane's potential to be WWE's most dominant tag team force.
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