Though she’s still the undefeated NXT Women’s champ, Asuka will be traveling with the main WWE roster for a pair of house shows in Japan on June 30th and July 1st. According to PW Insider, she’ll be replacing Mickie James to team up with Bayley and Sasha Banks against the heel trio of Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax, and Emma.
Since her October 2015 debut in NXT, Asuka has quickly become the most dominant performer to ever come through WWE’s developmental. She broke Paige’s inaugural title reign of 308 days to become the longest reigning NXT Champion in history.
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As previously reported, Asuka broke WCW legend Goldberg‘s 173-win undefeated streak earlier this month. However, WWE has hardly acknoweldged the historic achievement, perhaps in hopes of building more fanfare by mentioning it closer to a big pay per view or her main roster debut. Both Asuka and Goldberg have since commented on the “streak” changing hands, however.
The inclusion of Asuka on these Japanese dates is a smart move for the WWE. But it could also signal that she’s nearing the end of her reign on the developmental brand. Will she drop the NXT title before making the jump? Can we expect to see her debut on Raw, or SmackDown Live? What about the rumors true she’ll be a client of Paul Heyman’s advocacy? True to her namesake, all eyes are on “The Empress of Tomorrow” for big things in her future.
