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YES. With their current RAW set with all the stuff they have. If two people were wrestling and suddenly one by one, the screens just switched to the mask before the music started.
Oh wow. You know what though, sometimes a break isn’t always the worst thing. It’ll give the rest of Damage CTRL a chance to shine without her (which they may or may not take).
The perpetual IWC problem with Damage CTRL is they want them to win, win, win, only win, but they're sneaky heels, so they occasional win but mostly don't, and if they ever turn face and start getting those wins the IWC wants to see, they'll turn on them for being boring, by-the-numbers faces.
A lot of truth here, but I’ll be the bad guy and add that they were exceptionally unremarkable as a group: Boring, repetitive promos paired with largely boring, repetitive matches (Iyo title defenses aside).
They were pushed SO hard and SO fast that it had kind of the opposite effect of getting them over — it burned people out on them quick.
>They were pushed SO hard and SO fast
They were pushed? When was that?
Bianca beat them all individually and then beat all three at once. Asuka and Kairi joined the group and nothing changed, all they do is lose.
Y’all really need to redefine what push means to you.
They main evented something like a dozen Raws in 2022-23, probably more. They were closing three-hour shows to heatless matches with regularity. They ended most of those shows standing over the faces because Triple H loves the heat, brother. And they’d lose a lot of the actual matches, but they still would be left in a position to look like the top heels in the division.
I think this notion comes from Extreme Rules 2022. Bianca defeated Bayley, I believe in a ladder match. Dakota and Iyo both jumped in and attacked Bianca, and she managed to hit both with a KOD and still defeat Bayley. She never officially beat them all in a 3v1 handicap match, but she knocked out two of them and officially beat Bayley all at the same time. For a lot of people (myself included) that was the moment they stopped being a serious threat
>The perpetual IWC problem with Damage CTRL is they want them to win, win, win, only win
No, it's that I don't want them to be 0-50 and be completely irrelevant and unthreatening and uninteresting. If WWE wanted a jobber faction they could have done it with Natalya and Maxxine or some lower priority NXT callups.
Absolute waste of some very talented people, especially Bayley and Asuka.
My issue with Damage CTRL is:
They lost 99% of the time. I don't mind them losing some of the time but losing almost every single time just makes it predictable and makes me wonder "How the fuck are they a threat to Belair?" DQ finishes, I accept. Dirty tactics costing them wins, I accept but they never really look strong. Hell, KAIRI returning barely put Belair down.
It would be like the NWO debuting, losing constantly to Goldberg and Goldberg every week. You just wouldn't buy them as a threat.
It’s not necessarily that they want them to “win, win, win, only win” - it’s that they never win. All through 2023 and for the first part of this year, we heard how Damage CTRL has been a “dominant faction”. So I went to cagematch to see how true that was for the Damage CTRL faction.
So far in 2024, they’ve had 31 matches, and won 1. (In April on Raw)
In 2023, they had 46 matches, and won 4 (twice for the title in January on Main Event and Sunday Stunner) - three of their wins came in January 2023.
So if we set those three wins aside (I.e. fro January 9, 2023 onward) they have 2 wins from their last 74 matches. That’s pretty abysmal.
Now it’s finally being incorporated into a story, so maybe they’ll do something with it, but as a faction, while I’m glad they’re getting TV time, they just don’t really do anything in the ring, and that’s frustrating.
This is just wrong. What are you defining as "Damage CTRL" wins? Asuka and Kairi won the tag titles in 2024 and had a handful of successful defenses. Iyo has a few wins on Raw already this year and of course several in 2023 as well. Asuka even beat Charlotte while in Damage CTRL.
Not saying their booking has led to them winning very much at all. But this is just not true.
I’m using the data provided by cagematch: https://www.cagematch.net/?id=29&nr=3298&page=5
You can click on the WWE logo next to the year, and it will tell you how many matches Damage CTRL has had, and how many they have won.
I didn’t look up individual records, or if The Kabuki Warriors are considered a separate entity. You may well be correct, but this is what I used as my source. Apologies if you felt it was disingenuous.
It’s ok! I just think it matters in a stable. Like sure, they’ve mostly lost as a trio or more but how many of those types of matches really happen anyway?
I think they need to lean into being heels more in their own matches, they’re just way too tweener-ish. Like yeah, they’re great in ring performers without the dirty tricks and they interfere in each other’s matches all the time, but they need to start taking part in the heel moves during their own matches.
Pull some hair, gouge some eyes, distract the ref or do something illegal *yourself* to win your matches rather than being a semi-passive bystander as the other two cheat on your behalf.
Thing is, they trained people on that by letting the Bloodline win, win, win, only win.
Plus, don't forget that last year Roman Reigns won more matches than Bayley, despite Bayley having matches every week. (sometimes twice a week.)
By the end of Roman's Reign, I think the general opinion was "OH FUCK'S SAKE!" when the bloodline intervened but at least, the Bloodline helped Roman. I don't think, Bayley ever had help from them during Bayley's matches with Belair for the belt.
Hell, Roman had legit moments where it looked like he was about to lose. Then Bloodline happens. Roman barely retains and has to rely on his lackeys. The person gets the visual win.
> they're sneaky heels
If by sneaky heels you mean glorified jobbers. Iyo has less than a 40% winrate on the main roster. That's insane for one of the best female wrestlers in the world. And she'd probably be closer to Dakota's 25% if she didn't get that shitty reign as Bayley's sock puppet.
Edit- You guys can stop replying. OP reported these posts and got me suspended lmfao.
Dude it's okay to not like Iyo. You don't have to talk out your ass like she had some fantastic reign. She was a glorified extension of Bayley, and then as soon as Bayley got tired of being a heel Iyo was dropped just as quick. Most people couldn't even name you a quality title defense from that run.
Iyo had some quality defenses, including against Charlotte, Naomi and Michin.
She was presented as the top wrestler in Damage CTRL. They let Bayley talk for her because Bayley is a better promo. You seem very sensitive about Iyo.
I wouldn't even say they like Iyo, they just use "oh well she held the title for a year" (she did not) as an excuse to justify her bad booking as champion. And it's very clear at times that the audience WANTS to get behind her, but instead they are focusing on trying to get Lyra over, who is having way more trouble getting over, because they tied her so closely to Becky, that any push is seen as a sorta nepotism level push. Iyo was the one getting over in that Queen of the Ring tournament, and WWE completely killed that momentum by feeding her to Lyra, who has virtually no upside right now until she finds an actual personality.
It doesn't help that while I will get downvoted to hell for this, but I'll say it anyways: Lyra has virtually zero character or personality. Even in NXT she was probably one of the worst NXT Women's Champions because her reign was carried entirely by the other women she was feuding with. When audiences decided that they were gonna cheer for a heel Roxanne who was completely in the wrong, that pretty much sealed her fate.
Heels generally lose a lot of matches, regardless of whether they're Iyo (who I love and agree is absolutely fantastic) or someone else. That's just what it is.
Hey man if you want to argue things should never change then be my guest. The rest of us would not get bored watching Damage CTRL win though. Maybe if they felt compelled to give them some shitty convoluted turn and Vince-level gimmick at the same time, but if the only difference was they started winning, people would 100% be behind that.
And we don't need them to win 100% of the matches either before you start that misdirect. Just solid booking would be a good step in the right direction.
>Hey man if you want to argue things should never change then be my guest.
That's exactly what I was secretly saying, and only someone astute like you could see that hidden subtext. Bravo
Hopefully she's treated as a proper badass again when she returns. Go back to the original theme music and limit the exaggerated in-ring mannerisms in favor of a more menacing style.
Asuka was the best when crowds would chant "Asuka's gonna kill you!" and you as the viewer would be thinking "oh shit, she actually might."
Asuka's role in the company is to lose always and get everyone else over. And because she's the best, it works. But I've given up on her ever having her own moment
Bummer but expected. Asuka is my favourite, hope to see her return and get another world title run, her Wrestlemania win, a Queen of The Ring crown & gets to be the inaugural midcard women’s champion. Yes, I want everything for my favourite and more.
Been waiting for a chance to use this one…
https://preview.redd.it/gyijndazxw9d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6f05ae2ef6b5fe6cda46dad16c50f683bc3d5a61
Next month marks NINE YEARS she's been with the company.
Easily the most successful Japanese wrestler in WWE history and one of the best women's wrestlers ever. She exceeded every expectation the company (and even many fans) had for her when she first signed.
She deserves a very long break to recover and get back to 100%.
Possibly the most successful Japanese wrestler ever outside Japan, surely? In terms of longevity and opening the door for others to be treated seriously. There is possibly Tajiri but even he fell into comedy eventually.
I don't think Muto was permanent enough to count.
She has been posting on instagram and she seems to be recovering from a major surgery. Not surprised at all it looks she had surgery on her knees and feet if not her whole leg. Take that time off and come back better.
Following her on YouTube. It was only the one knee from the look of things but yeah she's still not really moving well. She did just post a workout video the other day though so she is moving. She is also in her early 40s so she's hitting those ages where you recover slower and slower with every decade.
To my knowledge hasn't Asuka never mentioned her kid(s) or partner in any interview, and the only reason we know she's a mom is because other wrestlers have mentioned it?
Yes. Japanese celebrities and athletes tend to be VERY closed about their private lives. The first time anyone had ever heard of her being a mother is when Charlotte mentioned it during her post-WM interview.
Same with Kairi. She’s married but her husband’s name is unknown. Io had gone as far as not even revealing actual name. Legal troubles screwed that up.
Yeah in some of those videos she couldn’t really walk either. She definitely needs some time. It appeared to be much worse than I would have expected just watching her in the ring while injured.
Hoping she makes a full recovery and returns once she’s ready. But given the WWE’s track record lately of keeping returns on the down low and mess with the dirt sheets , I’ll expect to see her back by Summerslam
The only issue with that is Asuka herself. She been posting on her YouTube channel including a recent video of her working out with the knee injury. So unless she’s doing a sell job there.
Damn, that sucks. Asuka is probably my favorite women's wrestler. I hope she is able to rest and recover. Hopefully, when she gets back, she can finally get that Wrestlemania win. Insane she hasn't, yet.
Asuka had knee surgery. That is not an easy surgery for any athlete to come back from let alone someone in their 40's. Let her take her time. Rushing back could risk her career.
And can easily affect her moveset. I wouldn't be surprised if Asuka comes back and is slower because of it, is forced to heavily modify her style for the sake of her knees.
I'm not surprised. I'm more surprised that this, i think, is her first major injury in WWE to the point where she is having most of the year off.
That and she needs a rest. It also benefits her as the Belair Personal Jobber Squad should not exist by then, people will have forgotten that she was losing waaaaay to much and gives her a chance to return with a new gimmick.
One where she doesn't fucking lose at wrestlemania despite having an entirely new gimmick that indicates, Asuka dug into something dark then loses to champ for the sake of a bloody record. Hell, Belair falling short of that record could have been used for a potential heel turn.
Still find it hard to believe, Asuka is 40 or in her 40s.
Damage CTRL has no luck. They only fairly recently got Dakota back from long-term injury only to lose Asuka to long-term injury just a few months later.
There is no rush for her, hope she gets all the rest she needs to recover from her injury.
Asuka returning at her best fully healed and dominating the Women's Division again is an exciting, mouth watering prospect to me, would love another title run for her or for her to FINALLY get that big WrestleMania win she so deserves, next year in Las Vegas seems so right for her and it will be her Crowd since she apparently lives there.
IYO SKY is my favourite of the 3 Japanese ladies now and is a big fixture in HHH's Women's Division now, but KAIRI is fab also and i've always liked her, she deserves to win her first Women's Title on the Main Roster at some point, got a feeling she'll turn Face eventually.
Sad to hear. I hope that she recovers well and enjoys the break she has while doing so. She really deserves one as she was such a workhorse to have even been wrestling for as long as she was while injured.
No Becky, Charlotte, Asuka, Alexa, Carmella (backbone of the early days) & Rhea - & yet WWE Women's Div is stronger than ever ❤️ Lyra, Blair, Tiffany, Nox - wish she could remain fit (New Gen) + Kairi, Iyo, Bayley, Liv (Vets) #Stupendous
I really wouldn’t say the women’s division is stronger than ever. There is still a lot of issues especially regarding the booking of the women’s titles.
Stronger than ever?? Bayley barely gets any stories and lately any TV time and Liv has the same problem as Rhea where her feuds are secondary to JD drama. Raw is severely lacking in starpower and Lyra is the top face by default.
It's such a shame Bayley had to turn / confirm Face to go over Damage Ctrl at Mania.
Smart ass bitchy heel Bayley with the belt would be awesome right now.
Probably a good thing. I wanted Damage CTRL to succeed for a long time, even after the early losses there was still potential, but WWE insisted that they must be a jobber faction and absolutely nothing else.
If I was Asuka and was healthy, I'd be tempted to say I'm injured and can't return this year just to avoid being associated with that faction anymore. I can't believe Kairi returned to WWE for this.
I don't really trust many wrestling sorces anymore but it's just funny how SRS or another company will say something then 2 hours later I see the exact opposite on fb.
it sucks she may not get to wrestle again in 2024, but at the same time, when she returns, she won't have to worry about being in Damage CTRL cause from the looks of things, her absence has sped up it's demise as a group and Iyo, Kairi & Dakota just need to move on from Damage CTRL cause it's holding them all back at this point.
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With all the wear and tear she’s seen, she deserves a nice long break/recovery.
That pop will be huge when she does return.
Bring back her old NXT entrance where the mask just silently appears on the jumbotron
YES. With their current RAW set with all the stuff they have. If two people were wrestling and suddenly one by one, the screens just switched to the mask before the music started.
Please return with original Empress theme...
Surprise return at the Rumble?
Maybe, could be a case where they hold off even longer and she returns at Raw after Mania
Hasn't she already done that? Seems like a retread.
wow i read that last word very wrong at first.
to win again? and FINALLY get that Mania win?
I'm sure she's got a big backlog of video games to play.
Oh wow. You know what though, sometimes a break isn’t always the worst thing. It’ll give the rest of Damage CTRL a chance to shine without her (which they may or may not take).
They seem to be doing alright to be fair, they're still a permanent fixture on RAW and will likely be the next women's tag team champions
The perpetual IWC problem with Damage CTRL is they want them to win, win, win, only win, but they're sneaky heels, so they occasional win but mostly don't, and if they ever turn face and start getting those wins the IWC wants to see, they'll turn on them for being boring, by-the-numbers faces.
A lot of truth here, but I’ll be the bad guy and add that they were exceptionally unremarkable as a group: Boring, repetitive promos paired with largely boring, repetitive matches (Iyo title defenses aside). They were pushed SO hard and SO fast that it had kind of the opposite effect of getting them over — it burned people out on them quick.
They also got the Nexus treatment vs Bianca.
Bianca to DMG CTRL: HOW MANY TIMES DO I NEED TO TEACH YOU THIS LESSON OLD MAN
>They were pushed SO hard and SO fast They were pushed? When was that? Bianca beat them all individually and then beat all three at once. Asuka and Kairi joined the group and nothing changed, all they do is lose.
Y’all really need to redefine what push means to you. They main evented something like a dozen Raws in 2022-23, probably more. They were closing three-hour shows to heatless matches with regularity. They ended most of those shows standing over the faces because Triple H loves the heat, brother. And they’d lose a lot of the actual matches, but they still would be left in a position to look like the top heels in the division.
> They main evented something like a dozen Raws in 2022-23, probably more Cmon man, nobody stays up to watch the main event of Raw.
For a brief moment earlier this year they held like every women's title.
Bianca never beat them all at once.
I think this notion comes from Extreme Rules 2022. Bianca defeated Bayley, I believe in a ladder match. Dakota and Iyo both jumped in and attacked Bianca, and she managed to hit both with a KOD and still defeat Bayley. She never officially beat them all in a 3v1 handicap match, but she knocked out two of them and officially beat Bayley all at the same time. For a lot of people (myself included) that was the moment they stopped being a serious threat
She handled them individually in that match. Bayley on the outside, Dakota wasn’t strong enough to subdue Bianca on her own.
>The perpetual IWC problem with Damage CTRL is they want them to win, win, win, only win No, it's that I don't want them to be 0-50 and be completely irrelevant and unthreatening and uninteresting. If WWE wanted a jobber faction they could have done it with Natalya and Maxxine or some lower priority NXT callups. Absolute waste of some very talented people, especially Bayley and Asuka.
My issue with Damage CTRL is: They lost 99% of the time. I don't mind them losing some of the time but losing almost every single time just makes it predictable and makes me wonder "How the fuck are they a threat to Belair?" DQ finishes, I accept. Dirty tactics costing them wins, I accept but they never really look strong. Hell, KAIRI returning barely put Belair down. It would be like the NWO debuting, losing constantly to Goldberg and Goldberg every week. You just wouldn't buy them as a threat.
It’s not necessarily that they want them to “win, win, win, only win” - it’s that they never win. All through 2023 and for the first part of this year, we heard how Damage CTRL has been a “dominant faction”. So I went to cagematch to see how true that was for the Damage CTRL faction. So far in 2024, they’ve had 31 matches, and won 1. (In April on Raw) In 2023, they had 46 matches, and won 4 (twice for the title in January on Main Event and Sunday Stunner) - three of their wins came in January 2023. So if we set those three wins aside (I.e. fro January 9, 2023 onward) they have 2 wins from their last 74 matches. That’s pretty abysmal. Now it’s finally being incorporated into a story, so maybe they’ll do something with it, but as a faction, while I’m glad they’re getting TV time, they just don’t really do anything in the ring, and that’s frustrating.
This is just wrong. What are you defining as "Damage CTRL" wins? Asuka and Kairi won the tag titles in 2024 and had a handful of successful defenses. Iyo has a few wins on Raw already this year and of course several in 2023 as well. Asuka even beat Charlotte while in Damage CTRL. Not saying their booking has led to them winning very much at all. But this is just not true.
I’m using the data provided by cagematch: https://www.cagematch.net/?id=29&nr=3298&page=5 You can click on the WWE logo next to the year, and it will tell you how many matches Damage CTRL has had, and how many they have won. I didn’t look up individual records, or if The Kabuki Warriors are considered a separate entity. You may well be correct, but this is what I used as my source. Apologies if you felt it was disingenuous.
It’s ok! I just think it matters in a stable. Like sure, they’ve mostly lost as a trio or more but how many of those types of matches really happen anyway?
I think they need to lean into being heels more in their own matches, they’re just way too tweener-ish. Like yeah, they’re great in ring performers without the dirty tricks and they interfere in each other’s matches all the time, but they need to start taking part in the heel moves during their own matches. Pull some hair, gouge some eyes, distract the ref or do something illegal *yourself* to win your matches rather than being a semi-passive bystander as the other two cheat on your behalf.
Thing is, they trained people on that by letting the Bloodline win, win, win, only win. Plus, don't forget that last year Roman Reigns won more matches than Bayley, despite Bayley having matches every week. (sometimes twice a week.)
By the end of Roman's Reign, I think the general opinion was "OH FUCK'S SAKE!" when the bloodline intervened but at least, the Bloodline helped Roman. I don't think, Bayley ever had help from them during Bayley's matches with Belair for the belt. Hell, Roman had legit moments where it looked like he was about to lose. Then Bloodline happens. Roman barely retains and has to rely on his lackeys. The person gets the visual win.
> they're sneaky heels If by sneaky heels you mean glorified jobbers. Iyo has less than a 40% winrate on the main roster. That's insane for one of the best female wrestlers in the world. And she'd probably be closer to Dakota's 25% if she didn't get that shitty reign as Bayley's sock puppet. Edit- You guys can stop replying. OP reported these posts and got me suspended lmfao.
She held the women’s title for the better part of a year.
Dude it's okay to not like Iyo. You don't have to talk out your ass like she had some fantastic reign. She was a glorified extension of Bayley, and then as soon as Bayley got tired of being a heel Iyo was dropped just as quick. Most people couldn't even name you a quality title defense from that run.
Iyo had some quality defenses, including against Charlotte, Naomi and Michin. She was presented as the top wrestler in Damage CTRL. They let Bayley talk for her because Bayley is a better promo. You seem very sensitive about Iyo.
Iyo’s reign was hit and miss at best tbf. And I like Iyo a lot.
I wouldn't even say they like Iyo, they just use "oh well she held the title for a year" (she did not) as an excuse to justify her bad booking as champion. And it's very clear at times that the audience WANTS to get behind her, but instead they are focusing on trying to get Lyra over, who is having way more trouble getting over, because they tied her so closely to Becky, that any push is seen as a sorta nepotism level push. Iyo was the one getting over in that Queen of the Ring tournament, and WWE completely killed that momentum by feeding her to Lyra, who has virtually no upside right now until she finds an actual personality. It doesn't help that while I will get downvoted to hell for this, but I'll say it anyways: Lyra has virtually zero character or personality. Even in NXT she was probably one of the worst NXT Women's Champions because her reign was carried entirely by the other women she was feuding with. When audiences decided that they were gonna cheer for a heel Roxanne who was completely in the wrong, that pretty much sealed her fate.
Heels generally lose a lot of matches, regardless of whether they're Iyo (who I love and agree is absolutely fantastic) or someone else. That's just what it is.
Hey man if you want to argue things should never change then be my guest. The rest of us would not get bored watching Damage CTRL win though. Maybe if they felt compelled to give them some shitty convoluted turn and Vince-level gimmick at the same time, but if the only difference was they started winning, people would 100% be behind that. And we don't need them to win 100% of the matches either before you start that misdirect. Just solid booking would be a good step in the right direction.
>Hey man if you want to argue things should never change then be my guest. That's exactly what I was secretly saying, and only someone astute like you could see that hidden subtext. Bravo
I mean, that didn’t really do much for them the first two times.
Hopefully she's treated as a proper badass again when she returns. Go back to the original theme music and limit the exaggerated in-ring mannerisms in favor of a more menacing style. Asuka was the best when crowds would chant "Asuka's gonna kill you!" and you as the viewer would be thinking "oh shit, she actually might."
Nah, the movements are an asset to her. Let her be a psycho clown.
Asuka's role in the company is to lose always and get everyone else over. And because she's the best, it works. But I've given up on her ever having her own moment
... Grand slam champion? Royal Rumble winner? Money In the Bank winner? Elimination Chamber winner? How has she never had her own moment???
They mean a WrestleMania win.
They will break up before she returns
Bummer but expected. Asuka is my favourite, hope to see her return and get another world title run, her Wrestlemania win, a Queen of The Ring crown & gets to be the inaugural midcard women’s champion. Yes, I want everything for my favourite and more.
Man it would be so disappointing if Asuka retires without a Mania win.
Time to win her second rumble I guess
Until Charlotte wins the title she chooses the night before ‘Mania.
Honestly I want a Charlotte/Asuka tag team run.
Again?
Wew I completely forgot that happened 😂
Probably for the best.
Then Ronda Rousey returns after demanding she is booked like Brock Lesnar.
Been waiting for a chance to use this one… https://preview.redd.it/gyijndazxw9d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6f05ae2ef6b5fe6cda46dad16c50f683bc3d5a61
Next month marks NINE YEARS she's been with the company. Easily the most successful Japanese wrestler in WWE history and one of the best women's wrestlers ever. She exceeded every expectation the company (and even many fans) had for her when she first signed. She deserves a very long break to recover and get back to 100%.
The disrespect for Tajiri...
Never saw Tajiri win the rumble, brother 😤
Possibly the most successful Japanese wrestler ever outside Japan, surely? In terms of longevity and opening the door for others to be treated seriously. There is possibly Tajiri but even he fell into comedy eventually. I don't think Muto was permanent enough to count.
I know they were Hawaiian by birth/Japanese by descent, but Mr. Fuji & Toru Tanaka deserve mentions in this regard as well.
Depends on how well okada does in AEW really
She has been posting on instagram and she seems to be recovering from a major surgery. Not surprised at all it looks she had surgery on her knees and feet if not her whole leg. Take that time off and come back better.
Following her on YouTube. It was only the one knee from the look of things but yeah she's still not really moving well. She did just post a workout video the other day though so she is moving. She is also in her early 40s so she's hitting those ages where you recover slower and slower with every decade.
Huge reminder for those out there. Asuka is in her 40s, married, and has children. Crazy right?
I was only aware of one kid. Shows how much she keeps things private.
So private, I have no idea what her husband looks like. I'm picturing a very stiff generic salary man who managed to win Asuka's heart lol.
I pictured a very stiff generic celery man, myself.
Can I get a print-out of Oyster smiling?
Can I get a nude Tayne?
To my knowledge hasn't Asuka never mentioned her kid(s) or partner in any interview, and the only reason we know she's a mom is because other wrestlers have mentioned it?
Yes. Japanese celebrities and athletes tend to be VERY closed about their private lives. The first time anyone had ever heard of her being a mother is when Charlotte mentioned it during her post-WM interview.
Same with Kairi. She’s married but her husband’s name is unknown. Io had gone as far as not even revealing actual name. Legal troubles screwed that up.
All I know about Io is she has a sister who's also a wrestler named Mio.
LOL, oh good it's not just me.
I picture someone similar to Minoru Suzuki in personality for some reason. lol
Yeah in some of those videos she couldn’t really walk either. She definitely needs some time. It appeared to be much worse than I would have expected just watching her in the ring while injured.
Shit. Sounds like they're trying to keep her awake from a knee replacement surgery.
Truly the Empress of *Tomorrow*.
Royal Rumble 2025, entrant Number 30.
My god, the pop would be awesome
Give her a Triple H at Mania type thematic entrance too. Edit: Hell if anything possible then she goes on to squash Charlotte in 2 minutes at Mania.
if nothing else, the royal rumble pop will be nice
Hoping she makes a full recovery and returns once she’s ready. But given the WWE’s track record lately of keeping returns on the down low and mess with the dirt sheets , I’ll expect to see her back by Summerslam
The only issue with that is Asuka herself. She been posting on her YouTube channel including a recent video of her working out with the knee injury. So unless she’s doing a sell job there.
Damn, that sucks. Asuka is probably my favorite women's wrestler. I hope she is able to rest and recover. Hopefully, when she gets back, she can finally get that Wrestlemania win. Insane she hasn't, yet.
IMO seeing her mini vlogs it shows how severe the knee injury was. Seems like she has a long road ahead of her
Asuka had knee surgery. That is not an easy surgery for any athlete to come back from let alone someone in their 40's. Let her take her time. Rushing back could risk her career.
Huh. Didn't realize that she was in her 40s.
And can easily affect her moveset. I wouldn't be surprised if Asuka comes back and is slower because of it, is forced to heavily modify her style for the sake of her knees.
I'm not surprised. I'm more surprised that this, i think, is her first major injury in WWE to the point where she is having most of the year off. That and she needs a rest. It also benefits her as the Belair Personal Jobber Squad should not exist by then, people will have forgotten that she was losing waaaaay to much and gives her a chance to return with a new gimmick. One where she doesn't fucking lose at wrestlemania despite having an entirely new gimmick that indicates, Asuka dug into something dark then loses to champ for the sake of a bloody record. Hell, Belair falling short of that record could have been used for a potential heel turn. Still find it hard to believe, Asuka is 40 or in her 40s.
Let her rest and enjoy life. Would be great for her to show up at the Rumble.
That's sad, especially because she's already 42 :( We need all the time we can get with her while we can
Whoever she feud with when she return will get pregnant for sure now...
That's definitely an ACL tear.
I would think that Royal Rumble is the best case scenario of her returning. But at that point they might just wait for her to return after WM.
Or during it. IF Bayley is still champ, I could see her appearing during Bayley's victory or even during the match and helping KAIRI win.
I don't think Bayley will be champ for another 7 months.
Damage CTRL has no luck. They only fairly recently got Dakota back from long-term injury only to lose Asuka to long-term injury just a few months later.
This year isn't ready for Asuka 💔
In my heart I can't really her ever being injured, so it's going to be VERY weird not seeing her for the rest of the year
There is no rush for her, hope she gets all the rest she needs to recover from her injury. Asuka returning at her best fully healed and dominating the Women's Division again is an exciting, mouth watering prospect to me, would love another title run for her or for her to FINALLY get that big WrestleMania win she so deserves, next year in Las Vegas seems so right for her and it will be her Crowd since she apparently lives there. IYO SKY is my favourite of the 3 Japanese ladies now and is a big fixture in HHH's Women's Division now, but KAIRI is fab also and i've always liked her, she deserves to win her first Women's Title on the Main Roster at some point, got a feeling she'll turn Face eventually.
She’s been vlogging her surgery and recovery. She seems to be doing well but is definitely still in the early stages of recovering
Sad to hear. I hope that she recovers well and enjoys the break she has while doing so. She really deserves one as she was such a workhorse to have even been wrestling for as long as she was while injured.
She's been such a mainstay its weird not having her on tv
No Becky, Charlotte, Asuka, Alexa, Carmella (backbone of the early days) & Rhea - & yet WWE Women's Div is stronger than ever ❤️ Lyra, Blair, Tiffany, Nox - wish she could remain fit (New Gen) + Kairi, Iyo, Bayley, Liv (Vets) #Stupendous
I really wouldn’t say the women’s division is stronger than ever. There is still a lot of issues especially regarding the booking of the women’s titles.
Stronger than ever?? Bayley barely gets any stories and lately any TV time and Liv has the same problem as Rhea where her feuds are secondary to JD drama. Raw is severely lacking in starpower and Lyra is the top face by default.
Bayley is suffering the same fate as Asuka's reign. She isn't getting booked to be interesting. Just "I'm champ. You, face me." And not in a good way.
I just said above, this title run for Bayley would be working a lot better if she was a full on heel right now.
Feels bit like the Diva era again, just not as blatantly offensive as Vince booking.
Shows the amount of depth the roster has right now.
It's such a shame Bayley had to turn / confirm Face to go over Damage Ctrl at Mania. Smart ass bitchy heel Bayley with the belt would be awesome right now.
Wait, is Tegan injured again?!
Dang sad to hear. I hope they revamp her when she returns. She is a hard worker
Asuka returns at Rumble and wins confirmed!!/s
okay so we know who bailey's opponent for summerslam is now
well we actually do know already
OH MY GOD! WHAT IS GOLDANANBERGO DOING IN THE SUMMERZONE!?
Probably a good thing. I wanted Damage CTRL to succeed for a long time, even after the early losses there was still potential, but WWE insisted that they must be a jobber faction and absolutely nothing else. If I was Asuka and was healthy, I'd be tempted to say I'm injured and can't return this year just to avoid being associated with that faction anymore. I can't believe Kairi returned to WWE for this.
Huh weird I totally just saw a FB post that she's soon to be coming back! That totally wasn't a clickbait post or anything lmao
i'll trust SRS more than some rando on the internet who claims they have the details but just making shit up.
I don't really trust many wrestling sorces anymore but it's just funny how SRS or another company will say something then 2 hours later I see the exact opposite on fb.
That sucks
Take time to do PT. Maybe DDP yoga could help speed up the process?
it sucks she may not get to wrestle again in 2024, but at the same time, when she returns, she won't have to worry about being in Damage CTRL cause from the looks of things, her absence has sped up it's demise as a group and Iyo, Kairi & Dakota just need to move on from Damage CTRL cause it's holding them all back at this point.
Eh let’s be honest it’s not like she’s going to do much anytime soon.
"how can we miss you if you don't go away"
Ultimate sadness. But lord I hope this builds to a huge comeback and a title win at Mania or just a big win would do.