Who should end Asuka's streak?
With Asuka's highly anticipated main roster debut coming tomorrow, there is one question on everyone's lips: who will break the streak? The success of her main roster career will hinge on it. For a long time, fans have complained about the misuse of top NXT talent on the main roster.
The Ascension and Bayley are two ominous examples. Shinsuke Nakamura, despite the push he's been given, hasn't shined as brightly as he could have (working with Jinder Mahal will do that). Bobby Roode hasn't gotten off to the best start. Now Finn Balor, too, seems to have taken his place among their ranks, courtesy of his tripping into Bray Wyatt's pit of terrible, which truly seems to be bottomless.
In short, the main roster's track record is alarming, and Asuka, more than any other NXT call-up, needs to be handled with care.
On the one hand, her undefeated streak instantly makes her an attraction. Every match will feel bigger because of it. Every move will matter more. On the other, that same streak makes her very vulnerable to WWE's propensity for bad booking driven by inorganic, short-term payoffs.
If it's thrown away on a whim, which is far from a remote possibility, she might never recover. The example of Goldberg and the way his streak was cast aside so frivolously looms large.
But...someone eventually does have to beat her. Who, how, and where this is done will matter a lot, both for Asuka's sake and for what should be the biggest rub in the history of women's wrestling.
But who should do it?
When looking at the current WWE women's roster, the options seem to be lacking. On the one hand, you have a swathe of people who just aren't credible, and the ones that are, like Charlotte, don't need the rub. Alexa Bliss would be the worst option of all, simultaneously being not credible and not needing the rub.
There are, however, three people that could beat Asuka in a spectacular match at the climax of an epic story. Anything less than that would be a failure.
As to which of these three would be the one to pick? It would depend primarily on how long WWE would want to keep Asuka undefeated.They all have their strengths and weaknesses.
#1 Short Term: Ember Moon at WrestleMania 34 (~6 Months)
There's an argument to be made that the most deserving person to break the streak is Ember Moon. She's already had two showcase matches with Asuka, the second of which was spectacular, so no one would have to worry about match quality. These two will tear the house down at WrestleMania if given the chance. There would also be a great, personal story to tell in the build for this encounter.
The first time these two did battle, Asuka had to cheat to win, and then deliberately inflict an injury on Ember afterward to avoid fighting her. The second time, Asuka won again...but only by the skin of her teeth, and this time, Moon injured her. "The Empress of Tomorrow" may have kept her undefeated streak intact, but she needed to "exchange a bone" in order to do so.
All the same, Ember must surely be feeling doubts, as she twice gave everything she had and still couldn't "figure out the puzzle." Would she be able to do it under the even greater pressure that WrestleMania brings?
It's a perfect story to tell for a match at the "Showcase of the Immortals", and the bout would reflect it.
As for how Ember can be called up by then — a potential women's Royal Rumble would be the perfect place. She can win and then go on to challenge Asuka. Even if a Rumble doesn't happen, NXT call-ups have been known to come as WrestleMania season begins, so it wouldn't be too hard to call her up by then.
The biggest weakness here would be promos, as Asuka can't be expected to speak in English for too long a stretch, while Ember isn't a good enough talker to carry her. But that can be resolved with short promos, the always well-done video packages, and Corey Graves doing his thing at the announcer's table. In fact, this same thing applies to the other two choices, so carry it over to those scenarios.