{"id":66737,"date":"2020-04-14T13:42:59","date_gmt":"2020-04-14T17:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/?p=66737"},"modified":"2020-04-14T13:42:59","modified_gmt":"2020-04-14T17:42:59","slug":"before-they-were-famous-asuka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2020\/04\/14\/before-they-were-famous-asuka\/","title":{"rendered":"Before They Were Famous: Asuka"},"content":{"rendered":"

All wrestlers have to start somewhere on the path to making their dreams a reality, whether it be a wrestling school, church basement, bingo hall, etc. From there, those wrestlers work their way up to the pinnacle of their dreams. For many, that\u2019s a career in\u00a0WWE<\/strong>. But sometimes the journey is just as important as the destination. In LWOPW\u2019s newest feature, \u201cBefore They Were Famous,\u201d we take a look at the pre-WWE careers of some of the company\u2019s top current stars, following along on their road to superstardom. This series continues with a focus on women’s division star Asuka.<\/em><\/p>\n

She is a former WWE women’s tag team champion, former Smackdown women’s champion, winner of the first-ever women’s royal rumble, holder of the longest NXT Women’s Championship reign in history at 510 days, and has the longest undefeated streak in WWE history as she went 914 days without defeat racking up over 240 wins.\u00a0 She is the empress of tomorrow Asuka!\u00a0 Asuka has accomplished so much in her career with WWE but what many may not know is she debuted all the way back in 2004 and had a successful run in the Joshi scene before joining the WWE.<\/p>\n

Debut<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Asuka had her debut match in 2004 for Major Girl’s Fighting AtoZ<\/strong> under her real name Kanako Urai<\/strong>.\u00a0 She was trained by BattleArts<\/strong> alumni\u00a0Yuki Ishikawa\u00a0<\/strong>who had a shoot fight background, including a fight in PRIDE.\u00a0 She wrestled a series of exhibition matches as Urai before her debut before officially debuting in June at Korakuen Hall as Kana<\/strong>.\u00a0 In late 2004 she competed in\u00a0All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling (AJW)<\/strong>‘s Tag League The Best alongside the legendary\u00a0Yumiko Hotta\u00a0<\/strong>and finished as a runner up.\u00a0 Asuka got to share the ring with many legends such as Hotta,\u00a0Jaguar Yokota<\/strong>, Manami Toyota<\/strong>, and many more.\u00a0 Asuka wouldn’t have much success in her early days and retired on March 19th, 2006<\/p>\n

Return & Passion Red<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Passion Red (Nanae Takahashi, Kana, and Natsuki*Taiyo) were such a quality team that didn't last incredibly long. pic.twitter.com\/VW52c1JDFv<\/a><\/p>\n

— Puro Central Shop (@purocentralshop) August 11, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n