Asuka is a powerhouse and will make a huge impression on the WWE main roster when she finally makes her debut. We’re not sure what the 35-year-old pro wrestling Empress Of Tomorrow has in store for the main roster or even how WWE will use her. But we do know she’ll be applying her craft on Monday Night Raw.
There were a lot of people who honestly wished Asuka would have ended up on SmackDown Live. But in the end, she was chosen for WWE’s red team.
Dave Meltzer recently broke it down on Wrestling Observer Radio and expressed some of the backstage reasons why Asuka was placed on Raw.
“They debated both brands and the deal is apparently that when you look at the roster on both brands they felt that the depth on Raw was not as strong — and it’s not if you really look at the depth on each brand. So they felt she was better off on Raw.”
“I wish she was on SmackDown because there would be more good matches for her there but that’s actually the reason she’s on Raw. Because she already has — SmackDown’s women are all kind of pushed or could be kind of pushed. Whereas Raw only has — just the fact that Emma is in the four-way and they don’t have any plans for Emma whatsoever. So you really only have Sasha Banks who they pretty much destroyed, Bayley who’s hurt, and then you have Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss and that’s it.”
Meltzer went on to speak about how Asuka would have been a better fit for SmackDown live. He also expressed some worry about how WWE will eventually end up using her.
“On the SmackDown side, you have a lot more,” Meltzer concluded. “So they sent Asuka to the weaker side as far as that went. So, there ya go. We’ll see how it goes, who knows? You see Jason Jordan and you remember Jason Jordan and Chad Gable were like can’t miss and they missed? So who knows?”
If Asuka would have made the jump to SmackDown Live instead of Raw it would have made for much better matches. But in the end, Raw needed her the most so that’s where The Empress Of Tomorrow is taking her talent.
Credit for the quotes goes to Wrestling Observer Radio and Still Real To Us for the transcription
