Backstage updates on Bayley and Asuka

[mistery]

From PWInsider:

The hope internally was for Asuka to return this month but obviously there's been nothing for her creatively. Other than hearing from fans who spotted her in Los Angeles recently, we haven't heard anything additional on the Asuka front.

We've always heard March as the expected return for Bayley.

They also mentioned that its very possible one (or both) of them will be gone until after Wrestlemania at this point. But I would be shocked if Bayley is cleared before Mania AND not part of it in some fashion. Hell, I will go as far to say that she will be the first challenger for Bianca or Ronda.

Creative having nothing for Asuka is sad but predictable. WWE's treatment of Japanese talent has gotten incredibly bad ever since Bruce and Johnny gained way more power and Triple H lost his.

[asuka007]

Given how Sasha has been booked. I would not assume Bayley will get much at Mania even if she is cleared.

If WWE cared about booking cool women’s match that did not involve the title, there’s a number of possibilities for Asuka if she were ready to go. But they do not care of course.

[ayumidah]

[Deleted]

Absoloutley not shocking they have nothing for gawd damn Asuka.

She may as well just wait out the rest of her contract and then explore her options because this company is f***ing brain dead as far as the womens side of things go.

[polarbearpete]

Feb 27, 2022 19:51:46 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

Absoloutley not shocking they have nothing for gawd damn Asuka.

She may as well just wait out the rest of her contract and then explore her options because this company is f***ing brain dead as far as the womens side of things go.

Or she’s not ready and/or she’ll return right after Mania as an instant title challenger for Becky, Bianca or Ronda.

[tenshi]

Asuka vs Ronda sounds cool and Bayley was meant to wrestle Bianca before her injury happened so there's that to think about.

[Deleted]

Feb 27, 2022 19:53:39 GMT -5 polarbearpete said:

Feb 27, 2022 19:51:46 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

Absoloutley not shocking they have nothing for gawd damn Asuka.

She may as well just wait out the rest of her contract and then explore her options because this company is f***ing brain dead as far as the womens side of things go.

Or she’s not ready and/or she’ll return right after Mania as an instant title challenger for Becky, Bianca or Ronda.

So the immediate solution is bring her back and then job her out to Bianca who will have won the title and wont be losing it that quickly

Becky who just lost the title and isn't likely to lose back to back considering they got her penciled in to face Ronda at next years Mania

Or Ronda who will have just won the SD womens title and isn't likely to being losing it or even a match that quickly

Those are choices I mean isn't this exactly what pissed people off about Alexa...her grand return was only to lose.

[polarbearpete]

Feb 27, 2022 20:04:01 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

Feb 27, 2022 19:53:39 GMT -5 polarbearpete said:

Or she’s not ready and/or she’ll return right after Mania as an instant title challenger for Becky, Bianca or Ronda.

So the immediate solution is bring her back and then job her out to Bianca who will have won the title and wont be losing it that quickly

Becky who just lost the title and isn't likely to lose back to back considering they got her penciled in to face Ronda at next years Mania

Or Ronda who will have just won the SD womens title and isn't likely to being losing it or even a match that quickly

Those are choices I mean isn't this exactly what pissed people off about Alexa...her grand return was only to lose and then not even show up the following night.

Why does she have to win? Having a lengthy title match and program with a champion is a good spot too. Not everyone can be champ at all times. She can do that and then move on to feud with others that can benefit from working with her such as Ripley and Doudrop.

[mistery]

Feb 27, 2022 20:06:28 GMT -5 polarbearpete said:

Feb 27, 2022 20:04:01 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

So the immediate solution is bring her back and then job her out to Bianca who will have won the title and wont be losing it that quickly

Becky who just lost the title and isn't likely to lose back to back considering they got her penciled in to face Ronda at next years Mania

Or Ronda who will have just won the SD womens title and isn't likely to being losing it or even a match that quickly

Those are choices I mean isn't this exactly what pissed people off about Alexa...her grand return was only to lose and then not even show up the following night.

Why does she have to win? Having a lengthy title match and program with a champion is a good spot too. Not everyone can be champ at all times. She can do that and then move on to feud with others that can benefit from working with her such as Ripley and Doudrop.

Probably because despite all of the "accolades" Asuka has gotten, she has never truly gotten her time as a centerpiece of the division on the main roster, opposed to the 4hw, Ronda, and Bianca.

Also she spent a large chunk of the second half of 2020 and like the first four months of 2021 doing nothing but jobbing to other women. If that is going to be the role she is stuck in when she returns, then she just needs to leave at this point and try her luck elsewhere that will actually respect her.

[polarbearpete]

Feb 27, 2022 20:16:03 GMT -5 mistery said:

Feb 27, 2022 20:06:28 GMT -5 polarbearpete said:

Why does she have to win? Having a lengthy title match and program with a champion is a good spot too. Not everyone can be champ at all times. She can do that and then move on to feud with others that can benefit from working with her such as Ripley and Doudrop.

Probably because despite all of the "accolades" Asuka has gotten, she has never truly gotten her time as a centerpiece of the division on the main roster, opposed to the 4hw, Ronda, and Bianca.

Also she spent a large chunk of the second half of 2020 and like the first four months of 2021 doing nothing but jobbing to other women.

“Her time” as the centerpiece implies she has to be the centerpiece of the division. Not everyone who is great needs a turn as the centerpiece and you can still contribute in other ways. Also agree to disagree that she’s never been a centerpiece and also she was one of the most protected women on the roster before her final couple of months.

[Deleted]

Feb 27, 2022 20:06:28 GMT -5 polarbearpete said:

Feb 27, 2022 20:04:01 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

So the immediate solution is bring her back and then job her out to Bianca who will have won the title and wont be losing it that quickly

Becky who just lost the title and isn't likely to lose back to back considering they got her penciled in to face Ronda at next years Mania

Or Ronda who will have just won the SD womens title and isn't likely to being losing it or even a match that quickly

Those are choices I mean isn't this exactly what pissed people off about Alexa...her grand return was only to lose and then not even show up the following night.

Why does she have to win? Having a lengthy title match and program with a champion is a good spot too. Not everyone can be champ at all times. She can do that and then move on to feud with others that can benefit from working with her such as Ripley and Doudrop.

I mean we can ask the other side of this...why bring back Asuka only to job her out?

This is the problem WWE put themselves in , I am not saying bring back Asuka and immediately throw the belt back on her by why bring her back only for her lose? in a time when the main roster women need MORE credible women it to me it just pretty backwards.

Again this is what they did to Alexa and everyone was like...what was the f***ing point? would be the samething here.

[asuka007]

Asuka being brought back after so long just to lose would feel, underwhelming.

It’s like when they brought Sasha back after an extended absence just to have her lose to Becky immediately. That did nothing for her.

Asuka is the textbook example of “having accolades on paper” but never really feeling like she’s truly focused on.

[facethatrunstheplace]

Feb 27, 2022 18:57:18 GMT -5 mistery said:

From PWInsider:

The hope internally was for Asuka to return this month but obviously there's been nothing for her creatively. Other than hearing from fans who spotted her in Los Angeles recently, we haven't heard anything additional on the Asuka front.

We've always heard March as the expected return for Bayley.

They also mentioned that its very possible one (or both) of them will be gone until after Wrestlemania at this point. But I would be shocked if Bayley is cleared before Mania AND not part of it in some fashion. Hell, I will go as far to say that she will be the first challenger for Bianca or Ronda.

Creative having nothing for Asuka is sad but predictable. WWE's treatment of Japanese talent has gotten incredibly bad ever since Bruce and Johnny gained way more power and Triple H lost his.

Their fantastic wrestlers, but the problem is always whenever they have to do promos. Shinsuke was getting what chants when he was feuding with Jinder Mahal, and Asuka was getting what chants when she was doing a promo on raw a few years ago. Some people have suggested giving them managers, but the WWE doesn't use managers these days, so that creates another issue. And I know that we're only talking about the WWE here, but it's not looking great for them in AEW either. Hikaru Shida has spoken about Japanese wrestlers being lost in the shuffle due to several things.

[polarbearpete]

Feb 27, 2022 20:22:14 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

Feb 27, 2022 20:06:28 GMT -5 polarbearpete said:

Why does she have to win? Having a lengthy title match and program with a champion is a good spot too. Not everyone can be champ at all times. She can do that and then move on to feud with others that can benefit from working with her such as Ripley and Doudrop.

I mean we can ask the other side of this...why bring back Asuka only to job her out?

This is the problem WWE put themselves in , I am not saying bring back Asuka and immediately throw the belt back on her by why bring her back only for her lose? in a time when the main roster women need MORE credible women it to me it just pretty backwards.

Again this is what they did to Alexa and everyone was like...what was the f***ing point? would be the samething here.

Why is every loss “jobbing someone out.” WWE doesn’t have enough depth to have every star constantly winning matches.

Plus, Asuka can get wins over the lower and mid card wrestlers like Liv, Doudrop, Zelina, Carmela, Nattie, Tamina and then lose the bigger feuds to those that are on top currently like Becky and Bianca and maybe Rhea. She’s perfect for that gatekeeper type role.

[King Devitt]

Feb 27, 2022 20:34:36 GMT -5 polarbearpete said:

Feb 27, 2022 20:22:14 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

I mean we can ask the other side of this...why bring back Asuka only to job her out?

This is the problem WWE put themselves in , I am not saying bring back Asuka and immediately throw the belt back on her by why bring her back only for her lose? in a time when the main roster women need MORE credible women it to me it just pretty backwards.

Again this is what they did to Alexa and everyone was like...what was the f***ing point? would be the samething here.

Why is every loss “jobbing someone out.” WWE doesn’t have enough depth to have every star constantly winning matches.

Because it's WWE.

The same company that is so afraid to have people take a clean loss, they spam countouts and DQ's like crazy.
It's practically meme worthy at this point.

Oh and if you do get a win, it's via surprise roll-up.

If you get a decisive win over someone you're being pushed.
If you get a decisive loss from someone you're expendable.

From WWE to AEW I find it very bizarre how the super fans view the product.
This one is clear as day.

WWE don't know how to book people to lose. Unless you're not important.

[Kalmia]

This thread is a great example of how bad WWE's booking is. The perception is that you're either a champ, or being jobbed out. People like Asuka and Alexa should be able to come in, lose to the champion, and still appear strong competitors, but that never happens because WWE don't know how to do it anymore.

The men's division is just as bad.

[Dub H]

Asuka wod outpop and outshine all of the women ,probably the reason they arent using her

[mistery]

Feb 27, 2022 20:34:36 GMT -5 polarbearpete said:

Feb 27, 2022 20:22:14 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

I mean we can ask the other side of this...why bring back Asuka only to job her out?

This is the problem WWE put themselves in , I am not saying bring back Asuka and immediately throw the belt back on her by why bring her back only for her lose? in a time when the main roster women need MORE credible women it to me it just pretty backwards.

Again this is what they did to Alexa and everyone was like...what was the f***ing point? would be the samething here.

Why is every loss “jobbing someone out.” WWE doesn’t have enough depth to have every star constantly winning matches.

Plus, Asuka can get wins over the lower and mid card wrestlers like Liv, Doudrop, Zelina, Carmela, Nattie, Tamina and then lose the bigger feuds to those that are on top currently like Becky and Bianca and maybe Rhea. She’s perfect for that gatekeeper type role.

It is 100% safe to say Asuka is bordering on jobber/loser territory after how awful the second half of her 2020 was, on top of how awful her 2021 was. For context:

September/October 2020: Had significant problems putting Zelina Vega away.

November 2020: Lost clean to Sasha Banks.

December 2021: Got squashed by Alexa Bliss who completely no sold Asuka's offense. Also note that Asuka had to act like she was completely terrified of her.

January 2021: Almost lost the RAW Women's Championship to Alexa. Orton had to save her from being squashed again.

February 2021: Was slated to lose the RAW Women's Championship to Lacey Evans until she (Lacey) got pregnant.

March 2021: Got chumped on by Rhea Ripley every single week until Wrestlemania.

April 2021: Lost the title to Rhea. And then ate the pin and lost three more times to Rhea and Charlotte.

May 2021: Was squashed by Doudrop and Eva Marie in less than two minutes.

June 2021: Outsmarted by Nikki ASH in MITB. And has been off of TV since.

So uhhh...yeah. When/If she returns, if WWE wants her to keep any real semblance of credibility she might have left (which isn't much), then she should probably beat Bianca or Ronda for the title. With Bianca being the more likely of the two since Ronda is a sore loser and would probably end up walking out again once the fans turn on her.

Otherwise as it stands, Asuka has no real future in the company and should be looking elsewhere if she wants to actually look decent. Because if she comes back and is just slotted back into a gatekeeper or jobber role, the women's division is going to turn into an even bigger dumpster fire.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Feb 27, 2022 20:34:36 GMT -5 polarbearpete said:

Feb 27, 2022 20:22:14 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

I mean we can ask the other side of this...why bring back Asuka only to job her out?

This is the problem WWE put themselves in , I am not saying bring back Asuka and immediately throw the belt back on her by why bring her back only for her lose? in a time when the main roster women need MORE credible women it to me it just pretty backwards.

Again this is what they did to Alexa and everyone was like...what was the f***ing point? would be the samething here.

Why is every loss “jobbing someone out.” WWE doesn’t have enough depth to have every star constantly winning matches.

Yes, and that's their f***ing fault.

[eJm]

I mean, the reason they have no depth is because they fired most of the depth so it’s hard for me to sympathize with the struggle of that, to be quite honest.

And yeah, the wins and loss perception is entirely their own doing and it’s been this way for way too long so they’re just reaping what they sow at this point.