Kanako Urai is a Japanese professional wrestler signed with WWE. She is best known for her work as Kana in Japan and Asuka in WWE. She is a former grand slam champion and royal rumble winner. She is currently on hiatus.
Urai began her wrestling career after being inspired by several Japanese legends. She was a former graphic designer before she became a full-time wrestler. Urai won several tournaments and championships and established herself as a dominant wrestler. Between 2004-2006, she took a hiatus and opened her own graphic designing company while she was fighting through chronic nephritis.
Urai wrestled for several top independent promotions in America and Japan, such as DDT Pro-Wrestling, Ice Ribbon, JWP, Smash, Chikara, Wrestling New Classic, Shimmer, and Reina Joshi Puroresu. After defeating several well-known names and winning championships, she signed with WWE.
After joining WWE, they renamed her Asuka. She quickly rose to prominence by defeating Dana Brooke and Emma at TakeOver Respect and TakeOver London, respectively. At TakeOver Dallas, she defeated Bayley to become the NXT Women's Champion.
Asuka defeated several NXT superstars and built an undefeated streak for over 500 days as the champion. After TakeOver Brooklyn III, Asuka broke her right collarbone, which forced her out of action for six to eight weeks. She relinquished her championship and moved to the main roster.
After debuting on RAW, Asuka stayed undefeated and won the inaugural Royal Rumble in 2018. She moved to SmackDown and challenged SmackDown Women's Champion, Charlotte. At WrestleMania 34, she faced Charlotte and lost. It was her first loss in the company. She stayed on SmackDown, and by the end of the year, she defeated Becky Lynch and Charlotte at TLC to win the WWE SmackDown Championship.
After losing her title to Charlotte on SmackDown, she teamed up with Kairi Sane. The duo turned heel when she attacked Paige by spitting green mist. At Hell in a Cell, The Kabuki Warriors defeated Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross to win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships. The duo became the longest-reigning WWE Women's Tag Team Champions. At WrestleMania 37, they lost the titles back to Bliss and Cross.
After WrestleMania, Asuka entered the mixed person money in the bank ladder match where she won the match. On RAW, Becky Lynch handed the RAW Women's Championship and announced her pregnancy. Asuka lost the title to Sasha Banks on RAW two weeks after Extreme Rules. She defeated Banks at SummerSlam and won her second RAW Women's Championship. At TLC, she teamed up with Charlotte to win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. However, the duo lost the title in less than 45 days. After 230 days, Asuka lost the title to Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 37. She faced Ripley and Charlotte at Backlash and lost. She entered the money in the bank ladder match and lost. She is currently on a hiatus.
| Championship | Number of Times |
| Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship | 5 |
| JWP Openweight Championship | 1 |
| Reina World Tag Team Championship | 1 |
| Reina World Women's Championship | 1 |
| NXT Women's Championship | 1 |
| WWE Raw Women's Championship | 2 |
| WWE SmackDown Women's Championship | 1 |
| WWE Women's Tag Team Championship | 2 |
| Money in the Bank | 1 |
| Royal Rumble | 1 |
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