5 reasons why Nia Jax should defeat Asuka at Elimination Chamber

Next Sunday night at the annual Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event, Nia Jax has an opportunity to punch her ticket to WrestleMania. All she has to do is defeat Asuka. Yeah, that’s all. If she does it, though, it gets her a spot in the Women’s Championship match.

Even though the “feud” has been disappointing, there are some interesting scenarios involved in the possible outcomes of this match. Asuka, we think, is going to be challenging for the RAW Women’s Championship, but before she was given the opportunity to make her choice, she was interrupted by Ronda Rousey. Because of that, we don’t even know if Asuka plans to go after the winner of the Elimination Chamber, or if she’s going to choose SmackDown instead, because she’s already beaten everyone on RAW, including the current champion, Alexa Bliss.

With all of that said, there are some reasons that it might actually be more intriguing if Nia Jax were to actually win at Elimination Chamber and shockingly end Asuka’s winning streak.

#5 It’s would be a huge shocker

We’re not talking Brock Lesnar defeating The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX here, but I don’t think anybody would be willing to bet against Asuka in her match against Jax next Sunday night. If Nia Jax can actually use her brute strength and a larger body to overpower Asuka and absorb the Japanese sensation’s strikes, she could get the upset victory.

Not only would she earn a title shot at WrestleMania, but for a big occasion like the end of a 2 and a half year winning streak, Nia would be shocking the world by doing it in a very unexpected manner at a smaller event.

You would expect that the big winning streak would end at a big show like WrestleMania or SummerSlam, but what if it happens at the last RAW pay-per-view before WrestleMania? Suddenly we have some proof that anything, indeed, can happen in WWE.

#4 It doesn’t have to be a clean pinfall or submission

This would be a bit of a cop-out on the part of WWE because the stipulation just says that Nia Jax has to win the match in order for the Women’s Title match to be a triple threat. If Asuka gets disqualified, Nia wins. Technically she has gained a spot at WrestleMania. Nia and Asuka could brawl on the outside of the ring. The melee could conclude with Nia laying Asuka out with multiple big moves, maybe even putting her through the Spanish announce table, and then getting back into the ring in time to win the match when Asuka gets counted out.

Alternatively, they could do a play on the match the two women had on RAW a number of weeks ago. Asuka won the match due to referee stoppage after she kicked Nia’s leg out from under her, which caused it to get sandwiched between the ring post and the steel steps. She was able to get back into the ring and avoid a count-out loss, but she couldn’t stand, therefore could not compete, and the referee had to award the match to Asuka. A similar situation could happen at Elimination Chamber.

Doing it either of these ways, Asuka’s undefeated streak doesn’t necessarily end. She isn’t being pinned or made to submit, which are generally the two “satisfactory” ways to end a match. Nia may have immobilized her for a period of time and will have a “W” in the record books, but nobody would consider that a streak breaker.

#3 It makes WrestleMania more interesting

If Jax can defeat Asuka clean it would be huge. It would also have even bigger implications for WrestleMania. If WWE is indeed being completely straightforward about it, then the RAW Women’s Title match at WrestleMania will be Nia Jax vs. WWE Women’s Champion vs. the no longer undefeated Asuka. Suddenly, a victory for Asuka is far more important than it was before she fell victim to Nia Jax. What happens to her aura if she were to lose two matches in a row? Would people still fear her? Would she be losing a huge psychological advantage, which has surely played a part in many of her victories as the bodies kept piling up?

Asuka winning the RAW Women’s Title at WrestleMania is a foregone conclusion if she beat Jax and goes on to face the champion in a one-on-one match. It’s her destiny, essentially. As much as I think it would be amazing to see Asuka’s first defeat happen at WrestleMania in the biggest match of her career, WWE would never have the guts to do it. When Asuka loses, it’s going to be at another big event (SummerSlam, maybe WrestleMania 35) with her defending the Women’s Title. It’s predictable. Asuka’s first loss will be at a big event, defending her championship that she won at WrestleMania 34 and that nobody has been able to take away from her.

But as I said, that won’t happen. If she’s forced to try to win the title in a triple threat match, she has two different ways to lose. She can get pinned or forced to submit, or one of the other two women could pin or force the other to submit. Those are high stakes for Asuka. She took a loss at Elimination Chamber (whether it’s clean or by count-out or DQ) and she can ill-afford to lose (or at least not win) a second big match in a row. It’s a much more important and noteworthy match, with a lot more on the line.

#2 It could make Nia Jax a huge star and lead to a big-time rematch

Imagine this: a year-long storyline that leads up to a Women’s Championship match at WrestleMania. How do we get there? Nia Jax defeats Asuka. She does it clean as a whistle. Asuka, ashamed, refuses to take her match at WrestleMania, claiming that she no longer deserves it and the honorable thing would be to bow out and let Nia have her match.

Asuka would leave for a few months and make her return, but it would be on SmackDown. She wouldn’t even acknowledge any questions regarding her loss to Nia Jax, and eventually, people would stop asking. She would go back to winning and earn an SD Live Women’s Title shot. She would win the match and hold the title until the Royal Rumble. Suddenly, she announces that she is relinquishing the belt because she has unfinished business. Nia Jax is the RAW Women’s Champion, having won the belt at WrestleMania 34 in the match that Asuka refused to be a part of, and Asuka wants her rematch. She has proven to herself that she deserves it, but has to earn it. To earn it, she has to win the Royal Rumble match for the second year in a row.

In the meantime, Nia Jax rides the wave of defeating Asuka. The commentary makes a big deal of it. She continues to bring it up and gloats about how she beat Asuka so badly that the “Empress of Tomorrow” left with her tail between her legs. Jax wouldn’t lose a match and would be completely dominant. She would assume the role that Asuka is currently in. Eventually, Asuka’s name stops coming ip because Nia is carving out her own groove.

Their paths finally meet when Asuka wins the Royal Rumble and chooses the RAW Women’s Title. Will she win the rematch at WrestleMania? That’s up to you to decide.

#1 The money is in the aftermath of Asuka’s first loss

Forget shocking. Shocking lasts for a fleeting moment. If WWE actually chooses to go the shocking route, and actually follow up on it in a strong way it would be something completely out of the ordinary. Just because it isn’t a big-time PPV in a long-awaited match, it doesn’t mean the outcome has to be obvious. It’s supposed to be a real contest, right? Two women fighting for their shot at a title match. Why shouldn’t Nia be able to win? Because you’re wasting Asuka’s first defeat on a B-level PPV without a ton of build up? Nah. Not in my book.

I think the real money is in the reaction Asuka has to her first loss. Losing is inevitable. It could happen at WrestleMania, it could happen at Fastlane, it could happen on next week’s episode of RAW. To me, the direction they take after Asuka suffers her first defeat is far more interesting than the loss itself. If you do it right, not only can you elevate the woman who is the first to defeat the seemingly unbeatable Asuka, but you can create a whole new narrative surrounding the Asuka persona. She’s vulnerable. She can be beaten. Does she lose confidence? Do the women stop being so afraid of her? Does it cause her to doubt herself, which ends up costing her more matches? Maybe she gets more determined and becomes enraged an absolutely brutal.

There are so many ways you can go, so many interesting things you can do. WWE completely squandered Undertaker’s first loss at WrestleMania. Brock Lesnar didn’t really benefit from it, and The Undertaker didn’t change. He was a little bit more of a human being when he returned 18 months later to get revenge on Brock, but that didn’t last very long, and he ended up just continuing to be the Dead Man. What if losing that legendary streak, the thing that had started to become the defining feature of his career, caused him to change his whole mindset? Go back to basics? Stop the mind games and be straightforward?

This is nowhere near as big, but WWE has an even bigger opportunity. Undertaker took that loss late in his career. Asuka has many years ahead of her. Plus, if done right, it could add a lot of intrigue to the women’s division, and maybe they wouldn’t be so one-dimensional.

It’s just a thought.