5 WWE Superstars who defeated Asuka: How did they win and why?

Asuka went undefeated for 914 days after joining WWE
Asuka went undefeated for 914 days after joining WWE

Asuka cemented her status as one of the greatest female Superstars of her generation by going undefeated in NXT/WWE from October 2015 to April 2018.

Her unprecedented winning streak began at NXT TakeOver: Respect, where she defeated Dana Brooke on her NXT debut, and it finally came to an end with a loss against Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 34.

Since that defeat, “The Empress of Tomorrow” has gone on to lose via pinfall or submission against four other Superstars, with her latest loss coming on the November 4 episode of RAW when she surprisingly tapped out to Natalya’s sharpshooter.

In this article, let’s take a look at all five Superstars who have either pinned the Japanese Superstar or made her submit during her WWE career.


#5 Charlotte Flair

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How did Charlotte Flair defeat Asuka?

In the first one-on-one WrestleMania match between female Superstars for 11 years, Charlotte Flair made Asuka tap out to a one-armed Figure Eight to retain her SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 34.

The shocking outcome not only brought an end to Asuka’s undefeated streak after 914 days, but it cemented Flair’s name in the history books as the first person to defeat “The Empress of Tomorrow” in WWE.

Flair also went on to defeat Asuka with a Figure Eight in the Mixed Match Challenge (Flair & Jeff Hardy vs. Asuka & The Miz) in November 2018, while "The Queen" made her submit to the same move when she won the SmackDown Women’s Championship from the Japanese star on SmackDown in March 2019.

Why did Charlotte Flair defeat Asuka?

Well, the Mixed Match Challenge outcome is largely meaningless when it comes to WWE’s storylines. As for the WrestleMania match, the most obvious reason for that outcome is that WWE wanted to make it clear that, at the time, Flair was the company’s top female Superstar, and defeating Asuka was the best way to do that.

Flair’s third win over Asuka is arguably even more controversial than the WrestleMania 34 match, as WWE originally planned for the former undefeated star to defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 35. However, Flair won the title shortly before the event instead, meaning the Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey match could have two titles on the line.

#4 Carmella

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How did Carmella defeat Asuka?

One of the most unpopular match outcomes of 2018 saw James Ellsworth dress as Asuka to cause a distraction on the ring apron in the SmackDown Women’s Championship match between “The Empress of Tomorrow” and Carmella at Money In The Bank.

Carmella then took advantage by kicking her opponent in the head to pick up the win, becoming the first person in WWE to pin the former NXT Women’s Champion.

One month later at Extreme Rules, similar shenanigans saw Carmella slam Asuka’s head off a shark cage, which was introduced to stop Ellsworth from interfering, and the first-ever Miss Money In The Bank recorded another controversial pinfall victory.

Why did Carmella defeat Asuka?

You may remember a villainous Carmella repeatedly bragging during promos that she defeated both Charlotte Flair and Asuka on two occasions.

Looking back, it seems that WWE simply wanted to elevate “The Princess of Staten Island” from a forgotten female Superstar on the roster to somebody who should be viewed as Women’s Championship material.

Much like Flair’s win over Asuka at WrestleMania 34, these back-to-back PPV wins established Carmella as one of the top stars on SmackDown at the time.

#3 Nia Jax

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How did Nia Jax defeat Asuka?

Team RAW (Mickie James, Nia Jax, Tamina, Bayley and Sasha Banks) defeated Team SmackDown (Naomi, Carmella, Sonya Deville, Asuka and Mandy Rose) in the women’s five-on-five elimination match at Survivor Series 2018.

The finish to the match saw Jax connect with multiple leg drops on Asuka before slamming her to the mat with a Samoan Drop to pick up the victory for her team as the sole survivor.

Why did Nia Jax defeat Asuka?

Six days before Survivor Series, Becky Lynch led a SmackDown invasion of RAW.

In what turned out to be one of the most iconic images in RAW history, Lynch suffered a broken nose following a heavy punch from Nia Jax and she ended the show by posing in the stands with blood pouring down her face.

Lynch was unable to take on Ronda Rousey due to the injury, so the Survivor Series crowd reacted to Jax’s entrance (and everything she did in the match) with almighty boos.

Given the reactions that the former RAW Women’s Champion received that night, it made sense for WWE to take advantage of the situation by allowing her to pin Asuka, who was the most popular SmackDown Superstar in the match.

#2 Mandy Rose

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How did Mandy Rose defeat Asuka?

Asuka ended 2018 as SmackDown Women’s Champion after she defeated Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair in a TLC Triple Threat match at the TLC pay-per-view to win the blue brand’s title for the first time in her career.

Unfortunately for “The Empress of Tomorrow”, her three-month reign with the title was mostly forgettable. The standout moment came when she retained against Becky Lynch at the 2019 Royal Rumble, but her next rivalry with Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville left a lot to be desired.

Neither members of Fire ‘n’ Desire were able to defeat Asuka for the SmackDown Women’s Championship, but Rose did pick up a surprise non-title win on a February 2019 episode of SmackDown when she feigned an eye injury and rolled up her rival for a 1-2-3.

Why did Mandy Rose defeat Asuka?

At the time, Asuka’s SmackDown Women’s Championship reign was being completely overshadowed on Tuesday nights, so WWE had to do something to give her a new challenger for the title.

Rose’s victory led to her receiving a title opportunity at the Fastlane pay-per-view, where Asuka retained in a six-minute match and never looked likely to lose.

#1 Natalya

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How did Natalya defeat Asuka?

The inspiration for this article comes from the November 4 episode of RAW, which saw Natalya and Charlotte Flair join forces to defeat Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka and Kairi Sane.

In the first five months of The Kabuki Warriors’ tag partnership, their only tag team defeat came in a Fatal 4-Way match in August when Sane was pinned by Alexa Bliss.

Three months on, Asuka lost the non-title match for her team by tapping out to Natalya’s sharpshooter, ending the Japanese duo’s five-match winning run.

Why did Natalya defeat Asuka?

According to the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, the match was originally booked as a victory for The Kabuki Warriors. However, WWE’s decision-makers made a late change and opted for the makeshift team of Natalya and Charlotte Flair to pick up the win.

"I don't know this as far as what happened to lead to a change here, but the original finish was Asuka and Kairi going over."

As a result, Natalya ended up winning the match for her team, which presumably means she will join forces with Flair again in the future to challenge for the Women’s Tag Team titles.


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