Here's the match video of Asuka defending her NXT Women's Championship against Ember Moon from Saturday's NXT Takeover show in Orlando. A lot of "experts" thought Ember Moon would win only because it was thought that Asuka was moving up to Smackdown. A couple of weeks ago, I thought Asuka might appear at Wrestlemania. But Naomi returned from her injury and I'm glad Asuka didn't appear on WM. Her first appearance should make a major impact. But I thought Asuka would win for two reasons. One is her record winning streak. She probably didn't even know about it until Bill Goldberg congratulated her on Twitter for breaking his record. And we all know that the WWE loves winning streaks. The other reason is the Ember Moon character doesn't work. We all liked Adrienne Reese as Athena. She can still be good but the Ember Moon character needs to go. You can even see the difference in the entrances. Ember Moon is all dark and brooding. I know what the WWE is trying to do but it doesn't connect with the audience. Contrast that with Asuka's entrance and it's striking. Asuka has enhanced what was given to her. She dances to the ring. She wore another new outfit. She wasn't told to do that. That stuff is her idea. I expected a competitive match because Ember Moon is good. But she's not that good. For the most part, it was a back and forth match. One spot which the announcers messed up was the Asuka Lock attempt. It should have been pointed out that Asuka never applied the body scissors that makes the hold inescapable. All three of those guys missed that. Instead they noted that Ember Moon escaped mainly to make us think she could win. Then at the end Ember went for her Eclipse finisher. As I have said before, it takes too long to set up. And of course they had Asuka push the ref into the ropes. Ember came crashing down and Asuka finished Ember Moon with a kick to the head. Are they trying to turn Asuka heel? They've been teasing a heel turn for a while. But I doubt that fans will boo her. We will see a rematch on the next Takeover show in May. And don't forget the WWE announced plans for a women's tournament this summer. Asuka could face the tournament winner. How about Io Shirai? Stay tuned and enjoy the video.
Asuka vs. Ember Moon (NXT TakeOver Orlando 2017) by VanishingWalker
No comments:
Post a Comment