Elimination Chamber Preview: Asuka vs. Nia Jax

Nia Jax fights for her right to a WrestleMania championship match against the undefeated Asuka this Sunday at WWE Elimination Chamber.

January 15 – Asuka and Nia Jax renewed their rivalry from NXT as the two most dominant figures in WWEs Women’s Division went head to head on Monday Night Raw. In what was a very competitive match up between the two, WWE official Dan Engler (formerly known as Rudy Charles in TNA/Impact Wrestling) deemed “The Empress of Tomorrow” the winner via referee stoppage as it seemed Jax was unable to stand after getting her left leg getting caught in between the ring post and steps.

Fast forward to the 5th of February edition of Monday Night Raw, General Manager Kurt Angle made the announcement regarding the Women’s Elimination Chamber match participants, Angle elaborated that he left out Jax for a reason. By leaving out Jax, he gave Nia a chance to punch her ticket to a guaranteed Raw Women’s Championship match with the catch being to defeat Asuka at Elimination Chamber. If Jax would win against Asuka, she would be added into the WrestleMania match.

The following week, after a competitive match between Bayley and Sasha Banks, Jax would exert herself after the match taking out the two. Monday Night Raw’s backstage interviewer Charly Caruso would ask Jax the reasoning of her actions by “interjecting in something that has nothing to do with her.” Jax would respond that what was between Bayley and Banks had everything to do with her. Further elaborating her point, Jax would say that both Bayley and Banks took Asuka to her limit in their respected matches and she just took the both of them out in seconds. Jax would say at Elimination Chamber she will break Asuka’s streak.

A week later on the 19th of February edition of Monday Night Raw, WWE Backstage Interviewer Renee Young would interview Asuka about her match with Nia Jax. Asuka would state that she controls her own destiny and that her destiny is to win the Women’s Championship at WrestleMania. Asuka also stated that Jax loves to talk and instead of talking, Jax would submit against her before Nia would ambush Asuka hitting her with a Samoan Drop and three consecutive leg drops with one of those being on the back of the neck.

Overview:

The way that the match was brought into play, the writing made sense for this to happen. Their encounter on the 15th of January edition of Raw left some unfinished business between the two. It was a way to put Asuka over continuing the streak, but it left the idea open for the casual fan (that isn’t familiar with NXT and don’t have the network) or the die hard fan to think that maybe Asuka isn’t unbeatable. Despite that, both Nia and Asuka have a significant history against each other and that goes back to NXT. Albeit unsuccessful against Asuka, Jax typically looked impressive in their match ups. This is expected to be a highly competitive match between the two, however this is made to make Asuka look strong to the audience that isn’t familiar to her legacy in NXT.

Winner: Asuka via Submission. Asuka Lock leaving Nia unconscious without her tapping out.

The key of this match is making Asuka look stronger, while maintaining Nia’s dominant persona. WWE might of dropped the ball on Asuka when she debuted back in October however, they are doing a good job with Asuka as of late. In a matter of weeks, fans saw Asuka win the Rumble eliminating the longest reigning Divas Champion in Nikki Bella, then to defeat Sasha Banks and Bayley in back to back weeks, all in all Asuka is in a better position to succeed as long as the writers continue to see the value in “The Empress of Tomorrow.” Let’s not forget, Asuka hasn’t made her decision quite yet regarding who will she face at WrestleMania so there’s a slight chance that Asuka may not even be a part of the Raw roster. Nonetheless, this match result mentioned, is the best way to put them both over. By Nia not tapping out, it showcases her toughness, getting over in defeat. Asuka winning this was shows why the hype behind her heading in to the main roster was indeed justified.