In 2015, Urai signed a developmental deal with WWE, making her the first Japanese female wrestler signed with the company in over 20 years. She won the NXT Women's Championship in 2016 (with her reign of 510 days being the longest in that title's history), and was moved to the WWE main roster in 2017. In 2018, she was the inaugural winner of the Women's Royal Rumble Match. She is also a former two-time Raw Women's Champion, SmackDown Women's Champion, two-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion (with Kairi Sane and Charlotte Flair; the only woman to hold this title with two different partners), and the 2020 Women's Money in the Bank ladder match winner. Following her first Raw Women's Championship win, Asuka became the third Women's Triple Crown Champion and the second Women's Grand Slam Champion.