411 Fact or Fiction Wrestling: Is Asuka Going to Raw The Wrong Call?

Welcome back to the latest edition of 411 Fact or Fiction, Wrestling Edition! Stuff happened, people loved/hated it and let everyone else know. I pick through the interesting/not so interesting tidbits and then make 411 staff members discuss them for your pleasure. Battling this week are 411’s Steve Cook & Kevin Pantoja debate!

Questions were sent out Monday.

Participants were told to expect wrestling-related content, as well as possible statements on quantum physics, homemade pharmaceuticals, the Turtle Total Trip Theorem, pizza and hydroponics.

1. Asuka going to the Raw brand is the wrong call.

Kevin Pantoja: FACT – To be fair, neither brand is booking their women well. Smackdown has made Becky Lynch irrelevant. Other than Carmella, the women being focused on (Naomi, Natalya, Tamina, Lana) just aren’t interesting. On Raw, things are even worse. Bayley’s been booked terribly, Sasha Banks is a revolving door of mediocrity and everyone else besides Nia and Alexa are doing nothing of note. Hopefully, Asuka’s the one woman immune to being fed to Alexa Bliss (Bayley and Becky gained nothing from facing her). I don’t have a good feeling about her booking on the main roster but Asuka might just be special enough to overcome it.

Steve Cook: FICTION – Asuka staying in NXT would have been the wrong call. She’s outgrown that platform and it’s time to see what she can do on one of the main shows. SmackDown could certainly use her, as we’re looking at Natalya, Naomi & Carmella in the title scene with Becky Lynch wondering where Thelma went. Or is Charlotte Louise? I never actually saw the movie so I’m really not sure. But I would say that Raw can equally use Asuka’s services, as Alexa Bliss can only defend the title against Sasha Banks & Bayley so many times. Nia Jax could use some competition that looks like they can actually beat her. As much as we might want SmackDown Live to get somebody to help them out, I have no problem with the A show horning on this talent at all. Will Asuka get utilized properly on Raw? Maybe. Maybe not. We’ve reached the point of no return with her though. She needs to go there so we can find out.

2. WWE giving away John Cena vs. Braun Strowman was a bad move.

Kevin Pantoja: FACT – It seems like they really feel that John Cena isn’t going to consistently be around for long. They’ve given away first time matches with Shinsuke Nakamura, Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns on free TV or B level Pay-Per-Views. I do think that Braun is special, though. He’s improved at a rate I never expected and has become must-see television. I’d actually love it if they saved Brock/Braun for Mania or even Braun/Cena. Braun running through Cena at a major event and putting him on the shelf for months would be awesome. I think the match should’ve been saved, but I can understand this being fiction if Cena won’t be around for too long.

Steve Cook: FICTION – I mean, I thought it was dumb. But we’re in an age where saving matches for PPV or WrestleMania doesn’t really matter. WWE wanted to throw something out there against Monday Night Football, and a first-time match up between WWE’s top star and everybody’s new favorite monster was as good an idea as any. Even if most of us are going to watch the football anyway, WWE has to try. I don’t think this Cena vs. Strowman match will take away from any future Cena vs. Strowman match on a major show, as they were smart enough to have it end with Braun getting DQed for kicking too much ass instead of Cena Wins LOL. That’s the part you don’t want to give away on TV.

3. If Big Show ended his career with his WWE Raw cage match against Braun Strowman, you feel that would be a great end to his run.

Kevin Pantoja: FACT – Big Show deserves for being as good and versatile as he has been for as long as he’s competed. Especially for his size. Despite that, I’ve been ready for Big Show to hang them up for a long time. This would be one of the best possible ways for him to retire. I thought the superplex a few months back would’ve been a good spot as well. The Steel Cage would probably be a better finish. The trilogy of matches with Braun was the best work of Show’s last few years and did wonders to help Braun get over as a monster. Let Show go off and enjoy the rest of his life without putting more wear and tear on his body. If this was the end, he went out the right way

Steve Cook: FACT – It’s rare when a career actually comes full circle and ends in a similar way to how it began, but if Big Show was to walk away after that cage match he could say exactly that. His WWE career began by tossing Stone Cold Steve Austin through a steel cage at Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1999. A little over eighteen and a half years later, Braun Strowman tossed Big Show through a steel cage. That, by all rights, should be how Big Show’s career ends. I’m not going to tell him not to come back. He’s got about a foot in height and three hundred pounds in weight on me, I’m in no position to tell him to do anything. From a storytelling perspective, that cage match was the perfect ending to Big Show’s career.

SWITCH!

4. Kairi Sane was the right call to win the Mae Young Classic.

Steve Cook: FACT – Kairi wasn’t my favorite performer in the MYC, but her winning it made perfect sense. Mostly because the winner will be competing for the NXT Championship at the next TakeOver show. Sane is under contract & got over extremely well with the Full Sail crowd during her matches in the Classic. With Asuka moving on to Raw, NXT needs a new Japanese female wrestler for the smart fans to get behind. I’m not sure how well the Pirate Princess gimmick will translate to Raw or SmackDown, but it’s the kind of thing that the NXT crowd will lap up with a spoon. She’ll have good matches with Ember Moon, Billie Kay, Peyton Royce, Ruby Riot, Nikki Cross or whomever else NXT throws at her. I see her taking Asuka’s spot as the anchor of the division.

Kevin Pantoja: FACT – Obviously. She’s under contract and has a star quality about her. Each match she had in the Mae Young Classic got at least ***1/2 from me and, more importantly, everyone treated her like a star. From her first match, everything she did got a great reaction. She carries herself like something special and she stands out from the other women. Build the NXT women’s division around her, but don’t make her the dominant star Asuka was. That’s not a character that works for her. She’s an adorable, pure babyface that can be a major player for years to come. The only other women I’d like to have seen win were Dakota Kai and Toni Storm.

5. Considering WWE just signed American Ninja Warrior vet Kacy Catanzaro, you expect the company to start looking more into the gymnastics and obstacle racing arenas to sign athletes for the performance center.

Steve Cook: FICTION – I think they’ll dip their foot into the pool and pursue people in those fields that are getting buzz. I don’t think William Regal is going to gymnastics meets & American Ninja Warrior tapings to get new wrestlers. WWE is certainly interested in signing people from a variety of athletic backgrounds, but if the recent signings are any indication, wrestling will still be the most common background of future WWE Superstars.

Kevin Pantoja: FACT – I can absolutely see the WWE going this route. They’ve been recruiting from everywhere in recent years. They get male wrestlers from football or other avenues almost as much as they get from the indies. A lot of the women in the Mae Young Classic that are currently signed have backgrounds in things like MMA and judo. I like it because it allows for a mixture of talent in the WWE. The Performance Center allows for things like this. They can take people without wrestling backgrounds and mold them into their perfect kind of performer.

6. Bianca BelAir was the break out star of the Mae Young Classic.

Steve Cook: FICTION – I was impressed with Belair’s performance. She’d make my top 5 list of impressive competitors if I had one, theoretically of course. I like her utilization of her hair as a weapon & she went in the ring with Kairi Sane & looked like she belonged on that level. She should get a chance in NXT going forward. But if you’re asking me who the breakout star of the MYC was, two names come right to my mind. I wasn’t familiar with Toni Storm prior to watching the tournament, and now I feel like I need to watch some Stardom, Progress and wherever else she’s working because she was fantastic. Great ring presence, great babyface work, great look. The sky’s the limit for her. And whether or not the Horsewomen feud happens or not, Shayna Baszler needs to be doing something in WWE sooner rather than later. Those people wondering who could possibly be believable in beating Asuka need to look no further than the Queen of Spades. As much as Belair wowed me, I can’t put her on Storm or Baszler’s level.

Kevin Pantoja: FICTION – I’m going fiction, but that’s not to say Bianca Belair wasn’t a breakout star. I just wouldn’t consider her THE breakout star. I think Piper Niven made more waves. She delivered in every single match and I heard plenty of people talking about her. Dakota Kai also killed it in all her matches, as did Rhea Ripley. The thing with the MYC, is that most of the women weren’t truly known, so they all kind of broke out, even Kairi Sane. Belair certainly broke out the most of any of the Performance Center projects and her match with Sane was one of the best of the entire tournament. Very impressive for someone with so little experience. If someone called her the breakout star, I’d be okay with it.

7. It has been announced that GFW will be part of the 2018 WrestleCon event; it’s about time that they got into the mix of WrestleMania weekend shows.

Steve Cook: FACT – Anybody that’s anybody in the world of pro wrestling is working somewhere in the vicinity of WrestleMania for WrestleMania Weekend. I used to think it was kind of lame how all of these feds would leech off of WWE’s most popular event to get some ticket sales & people in the house, but it’s been going on long enough now that I’m ok with it. Every single promotion does it, so GFW, TNA or whatever name they’ll be going by in 2018 needs to get on that.

Kevin Pantoja: FACT – Like most stuff involving GFW, I honestly don’t think this even matters. I’ll say fact because they should’ve been in the Mania weekend stuff a while back, but it’s not going to change anything.