TLC 2019: 4 Reasons why The Kabuki Warriors defeated Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair to retain the Women’s Tag Team Championships

The Kabuki Warriors walked into the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2019 (TLC 2019) event to take part in their first stipulation match to defend their Women’s Tag Team Championships. With the titles hanging high above the ring, the two Japanese Superstars were faced with their biggest threats yet in Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair.

The multiple-time Women’s Champions were billed as the favorites to win the titles, as they’d reformed their team to take on the heels. However, the match was no walk in the part, as we saw some great spots and moments which lifted the entire Women’s Division. At the end of it all, Asuka was able to climb the ladder and retrieve the titles in order to retain for her team.

In this article, we will look at 4 reasons why Asuka and Kairi Sane defeated Lynch and Flair to retain the Women’s Tag Team Championships.

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#4 To remain relevant

Kairi Sane took some major bumps during the match

The Kabuki Warriors were formed after two Japanese Superstars, Asuka and Kairi Sane, joined forces and were led and managed by Paige. While they were impressive, they were initially booked erratically and spent extended time off television which forced fans to express their anger over social media.

Once The Kabuki Warriors came back into the picture, they turned heel and won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships in the process. Since winning the titles, they’ve proven to be good champions and built upon their own image to increase the value of the titles after every match.

At TLC, they were faced with their biggest threats in the form of RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair. Critics were more or less certain that the two bigger Superstars would go over The Kabuki Warriors and end their championship reign.

While this seemed highly possible, WWE Creative had other plans and kept The Kabuki Warriors relevant by booking them to score their biggest win to date in a successful title defense.

As champions, they will remain relevant on the main card and both Asuka and Sane will likely no longer suffer from the issues that plagued them before winning the twin titles.

#3 To level the playing field

More women are starting to rise to the top of the women's division

There is no doubt that fans and critics have always labeled the Four Horsewomen, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, and Bayley, the top four women of WWE.

No matter how much the company has denied the fact that these four women usually get preferential bookings, it is evident from the fact that at least one out of the four are always holding a top championship.

Since the introduction of the Women’s Tag Team Championships, the women’s roster has been gifted with a new title. While Bayley and Banks were the first women to win the titles, we’ve seen women like The IIconics, Nikki Cross, and Kairi Sane benefit from holding the titles.

As mentioned earlier, most people predicted that Lynch and Flair would go on to win the titles at the event and become first-time Women’s Tag Team Champions. By denying them the victory, the company has allowed other women to level the field in the Women’s Division, and proven that they are open to giving equal opportunities.

With Flair losing out on the sole title that can make her a Grand Slam Champion, fans can rest assured that an even tougher team will have to step up to defeat Asuka and Sane and take the titles away from them.

#2 To continue Asuka and Flair’s rivalry

Asuka vs. Flair has the potential to go on for another couple of weeks

Asuka and Charlotte Flair got into a spat before Survivor Series, which saw the Japanese Superstar spray green mist on Flair’s face before walking out on Team RAW at the big event. This allowed Lacey Evans of SmackDown to pin Flair and eliminate her, leading to a loss for the Red Brand.

Since then, we have seen the two women constantly go at each other, with Asuka defeating Flair twice on RAW to make a bold statement. With Asuka once again going over Flair in the tag team match at TLC, it seems like the company is far from done with this rivalry. Asuka and Flair are arguably the best technical wrestlers on the Red Brand, and the company could really cash in on that with a few more great matches between the two.

Whether Flair will move away from Becky Lynch and look to find another partner to try and defeat The Kabuki Warriors, or cost the duo the titles against some other team by distracting them remains to be seen. However, it will be interesting to watch how these two great performers end their rivalry before moving on to other assignments.

#1 To set up towards Asuka vs. Becky Lynch

Last year at TLC 2018, Becky Lynch walked into the main event as the SmackDown Women’s Champion and put her title on the line against Asuka and Charlotte Flair.Thanks to interference from Lynch’s then-rival Ronda Rousey, 'The Man' lost her title to Asuka. This year, Asuka once again climbed the ladder to defeat Lynch and Flair, and this time retained her Women’s Tag Team Championships.

With this, we’ve seen Asuka gain much more leverage than any other woman in the back on the Red Brand. At a time when RAW is struggling to find suitable competitors to take on Becky Lynch for her RAW Women’s Championship, Asuka is quickly rising to become a potential threat.

By leaving another mark at this year’s event, Asuka could quickly get into the RAW Women’s Championship picture after she loses the Tag Team Championships down the line. This will help Asuka jump from one championship picture to another while becoming a cornerstone on the women’s roster after a well-deserved championship run.

Asuka has been in the waiting for far too long, and it’s time that the company invests in her as much as they have in the Four Horsewomen.