page_title: Asuka (wrestler)
section_title: NXT Women's Champion (2015–2017)
hierarchical_section_title: Asuka (wrestler) / Professional wrestling career / WWE / NXT Women's Champion (2015–2017)
caption_attribution_description: English: WWE's Asuka during at the Arnold classic event in March 2016.
context_page_description: Kanako Urai is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, performing on the Raw brand under the ring name Asuka, where she is the current Raw Women's Champion in her second reign.
  Previously known as Kana, she started her professional wrestling career in the AtoZ promotion in June 2004, where she remained until retiring in March 2006. She returned to the ring a year and a half later, starting to work as a freelancer for promotions such as JWP Joshi Puroresu, NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Wave, Reina Joshi Puroresu, Smash and Wrestling New Classic. Her achievements include winning the JWP Openweight Championship, NEO Tag Team Championship, Reina World Women's Championship, Smash Diva Championship and Wave Tag Team Championship.
  In August 2015, Urai signed a developmental deal with WWE, making her the first Japanese female wrestler signed with the company in over 20 years. After spending two years in WWE's developmental branch NXT, where she is a former NXT Women's Champion as well as the Female Competitor of the Year and Overall Competitor of the Year NXT Year-End Award winner, Asuka was moved to the promotion's main roster in September 2017.
context_section_description: On August 22, 2015, Urai attended WWE's NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn event in Brooklyn, New York, Rumours about her having signed with WWE were soon confirmed at a press conference on September 8 in Tokyo; this made her the first female Japanese wrestler to sign with the company since Bull Nakano in 1994. She joined WWE's developmental territory NXT, and adopted the ring name Asuka. Her debut appearance, which aired on September 23, ended in a confrontation with Dana Brooke and Emma. In her debut match on October 7 at NXT TakeOver: Respect, Asuka defeated Dana. Asuka continued racking victories over various wrestlers including main roster performer Cameron and continued her feud with Dana Brooke and Emma. On December 16 at NXT TakeOver: London, Asuka defeated Emma. Both wrestlers' performance was highly praised by critics such as Dave Meltzer, who called the match "fantastic".
  On the January 13, 2016 episode of NXT, Asuka participated in a battle royal to determine the number one contender for Bayley's NXT Women's Championship; she was eliminated second-to-last by Eva Marie. On the February 10 episode, battle royal winner Carmella lost her title match against Bayley. Asuka saved Carmella from a post-match attack by Eva Marie and Nia Jax and afterwards had a staredown with Bayley, indicating that she wanted a shot at her title. On April 1, Asuka defeated Bayley by technical submission to win the NXT Women's Championship at NXT TakeOver: Dallas and successfully defended the title against Nia Jax on June 8 at NXT TakeOver: The End. In summer 2016, Vince McMahon contemplated moving Asuka to the main roster during the 2016 draft, but NXT head Triple H dissuaded him, calling Asuka "the one person NXT could not afford to lose" and the brand's "anchor".
  Asuka remained in NXT and rekindled her feud with Bayley, whom she again defeated on August 20 at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II. After her successful title defense against Mickie James on November 19 at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, Asuka displayed the first signs of villainous behavior when she refused to shake her opponent's hand after the match. On the January 11, 2017 episode of NXT when Asuka was overpowered by The Iconic Duo (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce), Nikki Cross came to her rescue but then herself attacked Asuka. Asuka demanded to defend her title against all three and won the subsequent fatal four-way match on January 28 at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio. In early February, Asuka became the longest-reigning singles champion in NXT history, male or female. In March, Asuka wrestled on several house shows with WWE's main roster as a replacement for an injured Naomi, including a show at Madison Square Garden on March 12. Around this time, WWE began promoting Asuka's "undefeated streak [...] since her arrival" in NXT. Asuka had never lost a match by submitting or being pinned, though she had come up short in the aforementioned battle royal in January 2016 and tag team match and one fatal four-way match on NXT house shows in March and May 2016, respectively, when other wrestlers were pinned.
  In her successful title defense against Ember Moon on April 1 at NXT TakeOver: Orlando, Asuka again behaved like a villainess, shoving the referee into her opponent to avoid Moon's finishing maneuver (the Eclipse) en route to winning the match. Asuka also attacked Ember Moon, Nikki Cross and Ruby Riott, who were the final competitors in a battle royal to determine her challenger for NXT TakeOver: Chicago. Subsequently, Asuka had to defend her title against Nikki Cross and Ruby Riott in a triple threat match (Ember Moon missed out on the match due a shoulder injury), but she managed to retain her title at the event on June 20. In June, Asuka decisively defeated Nikki Cross in a Last Woman Standing match to retain her championship. During that time, she surpassed Goldberg's winning streak and Rockin' Robin's record-setting 502 day WWF Women's Championship reign.
  On August 19 at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, Asuka defeated the returning Ember Moon to retain her title reign. However, during the match she broke her
caption: Asuka in March 2016
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D3200", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Embettered by PicMonkey. http://www.picmonkey.com", "Image DateTime": "2016:03:05 18:15:18", "Image Artist": "Paula R. Lively", "Image ExifOffset": "244", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1026", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8764", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/400", "EXIF FNumber": "24/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Unidentified", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "3200", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2016:03:05 14:06:23", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2016:03:05 14:06:23", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "540241/62500", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4526069/1000000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "9/2", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "130", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "30", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "30", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "195", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "High gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "3486767", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[55, 300, 9/2, 28/5]", "EXIF LensModel": "55.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6"}