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Asuka's main roster debut was one of the most anticipated in recent memory. After taking NXT by such storm, fans were been clamouring to see her on their television sets every week. Even so, many were wary, as WWE has a long history of screwing up top NXT talent.
Unlike some of her fellow NXT graduates, however, Asuka was promoted by WWE for six weeks prior to her debut. Where most only appear randomly, Asuka got very well-packaged vignettes and commentary building her up.
Perhaps this was only due to the injury that delayed her debut, but it worked out far better. It made Asuka into a real presence before she even walked out to the ring, introducing her to a larger audience.
On the other hand, her debut match against Emma at TLC and her rematch with Emma on Raw have received mixed reactions. Both were far more competitive than many people thought they would or should be.
Debate has brewed as to whether this has damaged her aura right out of the gate. I'll try to answer that question by looking at the ups and downs of her debut matches.
Down: Expectations were set too high for what happened
When Emma came to the ring on the TLC go-home show, Corey Graves joked that she wouldn't be able to tweet after Sunday because a few kicks from Asuka would make her dyslexic and unable to move her fingers.
That's not exactly what happened at TLC or on the following Raw.
Instead, both matches were mostly back and forth affairs with Emma on the attack for long stretches. The pace of the matches had many people saying something along these lines:
Most people were expecting something more like Asuka's NXT debut against Dana Brooke.
It's unquestionable that, given all the hype, Emma should have had less offence in the match. If Asuka were facing someone like Sasha Banks, the story would have been different, but Emma only recently stopped being a total jobber, so the whole thing felt somewhat incongruent.
Down: Unwelcome comparisons
Earlier this year, Shinsuke Nakamura debuted in a match against Dolph Ziggler that most thought was underwhelming. While I don't buy the sentiment that Shinsuke Nakamura is "ruined" at all (he's still one of the most over talents on SmackDown), the important thing is that many other people believe that he is, and the comparison with Asuka was inevitable.
Add that to confirmation bias (which is how people view the world almost all of the time) and you have an element that would have been best to be avoided. Even though Asuka's match with Emma was significantly shorter than Nakamura's with Dolph Ziggler, and Asuka never looked to be in the danger of losing in her match that Nakamura was in his, the comparisons hit home anyway.
Asuka's aura isn't just based on the way she's booked. People have to believe in it for it to really be effective. The result of the two matches is that fewer people believe in it now than they did on Sunday morning.
Up: Asuka hasn't looked different from NXT
On the bright side, Asuka hasn't looked very different from the way she was handled in NXT. She was a bit slower at TLC, but she did just come back from an injury. She also hasn't been given a new gimmick or a stupid nickname.
Her move set doesn't appear to have been limited either, as has been the case with other NXT alumni. At TLC, I was wondering where her jumping armbar went and hoped it wasn't taken from her. I wasn't disappointed the next night on Raw.
Asuka's matches weren't that different from her NXT encounters either. While the wisdom of not having the squash that was expected is up for debate, Asuka rarely outright squashed her opponents in NXT. When she did, it was a local jobber most of the time. It's worth remembering that even Eva Marie gave her competition once.
For all the comparisons with Goldberg (here's that part about comparisons again), Asuka's thing was never running through people like him, but rather finding ways to halt her opponent's momentum and capitalize for the win, as we saw on Raw when Asuka countered Emma's roll-up attempt into the Asuka Lock.
This is the "puzzle," as Ember Moon called it, that Asuka presents. That hasn't changed on the main roster so far. If Asuka continues to do this and frustrate opponents to no end, she should be more than fine.
And hey, if the matches help to elevate Emma further, that isn't a bad thing, either.
Up: The slow burn might be best for the long-term
There are other flaws with the Asuka-Goldberg comparison. Besides their streaks, they have little in common. Notably, they have vast differences in opponents and in the era they're in.
Goldberg wrestled against a wide pool of talent in a far different era. Kayfabe wasn't yet dead and the Monday Night Wars excited everyone. Asuka has a far narrower pool of regular opponents to work with on the main roster and fans are far more fickle now than they were when Goldberg was busy making himself a household name.
Having Asuka squash people every week would quickly run her out of competition and the local jobbers would get boring soon. Instead of getting behind her, the danger would be of fans growing tired of her. Even as her NXT run came to a close, there were increasing complaints that her streak was an act that had gotten stale and that she "buried the women's division."
Building her up more slowly instead of inserting her immediately into the title picture after squashing Emma might be best for her in the long run.
Final take
Overall, though I don't like how much offence Emma got in during her two debut matches, I remain what I was before on Asuka's prospect of main roster success — cautiously optimistic.
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