The Curious Case of Ember Moon

It’s now an iconic image in the history of NXT’s Women’s Division: the vanquished babyface challenger, forced to submit by the larger than life champion, slumped against the ropes. Completely crushed, the loser begins to cry—how could one not, after failing to reach the summit despite such an exertion and performance? Who knows whether one would get another crack at the crown?

For the challenger, after a lengthy independent career hallmarked by an overt charisma and dynamic ring work, it was the culmination of a long journey. To come so close to the pinnacle—and let’s face it, the NXT Women’s Championship is the top title in women’s wrestling—only to fall short is utterly heartbreaking. The public devastation was simply impossible to avoid.

For Becky Lynch, the timing was wrong in May 2015. At TakeOver: Unstoppable, there was no real chance of her dethroning Sasha Banks only three months after The Boss won the NXT Women’s Championship. And frankly, there was no real justification for it. Banks’ magnetic presence, and her performances at Unstoppable and then at TakeOver: Brooklyn and TakeOver: Respect, buoyed the NXT brand and women’s wrestling in WWE to unforeseen heights. Keeping the title on Sasha was the right call.

Unfortunately for Lynch, her NXT story effectively ended that night in Full Sail. Thanks to the “Divas Revolution” (during the first five months of which she was only marginally “relevant,” if that) Lynch would indeed never get another chance at the NXT Women’s Championship. She lost her chance at the crown—but crucially, that crown was only the title. Her narrative arc was not predicated on beating Sasha that night, and in fact, was almost certainly bolstered by the loss. Sometimes losing is more beneficial than winning—but such scenarios are exceptions that prove the rule.

But this article isn’t about Becky Lynch.

For Ember Moon, the timing was right at TakeOver: Brooklyn III. It was time to pull the trigger on the heir apparent, time for Asuka’s streak to end, and time to reemphasize the NXT Women’s Division with the Mae Young Classic right around the corner.

But Ember tapped out.

Moon’s NXT run has been strange, to say the least. She signed with WWE in September 2015 as a heralded and popular Shimmer performer, ready-made to become a new star for a women’s division that had just lost three huge anchors in Sasha Banks, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch.

Yet despite regularly working NXT live events in late 2015 and throughout 2016, Moon did not make her TV debut until nearly a full year later, at TakeOver: Brooklyn II in August 2016. According to CageMatch.net, Moon had no fewer than six NXT Women’s Championship matches versus Asuka on house shows before her debut in Brooklyn.

Given that the division during that time was Bayley, Asuka, and a list of projects, holding back such a clear talent in Moon seems bizarre. This is not to say the division faltered: Bayley and Asuka are special talents and managed to bridge the gap as well as possible.

But it’s worth noting that of the five TakeOvers in 2015, three of them had two women’s matches on the card, and the other two featured, respectively, a Fatal Four-Way for the title, and arguably the best women’s match on U.S. soil in history. Since TakeOver: London in December 2015, the only TakeOver to feature two women’s matches was Brooklyn II—Moon’s debut.

Indeed, Moon is one of only two women (Asuka being the other) to debut in a singles match on a TakeOver card. Given this fact, it’s clear she was recognized as a unique talent—yet still it took her nearly a year to actually make that debut.

Ember was featured but not particularly emphasized after her debut, going undefeated until TakeOver: Orlando in April 2017 when she first challenged Asuka (in canon) for the title. Asuka, who had steamrolled everyone prior clean, was forced to cheat to defeat Moon and retain the championship. Moon was then removed from the May 2017 TakeOver: Chicago card due to a work-shoot injury, caused in storyline by Asuka—clearly making the point that The Empress of Tomorrow feared Ember more than any other woman.

When Moon returned and again set her sights on the championship, it seemed obvious she would challenge and defeat Asuka for the title in Brooklyn. The story was well built—the invincible champion had to resort to trickery to previously defeat the challenger, then attempted to remove her as a threat to the title, and would then be overcome at last by the returning babyface on the biggest stage possible.

But Ember tapped out.

Even with limited and uneven character development in NXT, Ember was well over walking into Barclays for a few reasons. First and foremost, that finisher. Given that the RKO is one of the most over finishers in wrestling history, a way cooler version of it was always destined to be a huge hit with fans. The Eclipse is just that, with many pulling out their phones to record the wildly impressive maneuver when Moon’s in position.

Her ring work is far more than just a finisher, though. She possesses a legitimate bevy of impressive offense in her arsenal, and believably sells damage on both offense and defense. Simply put, she’s an exceptional and captivating in ring worker, which was demonstrated by the increasingly loud “Let’s go Ember” side of the dueling chant in Barclays, and then the post-match applause and “Thank you Ember” chant (which was not shown on camera). Her performance in Barclays almost certainly will make her a bigger fan favorite going forward—but less of one than if she had simply put on that performance, and then won.

Now her path is uncertain, given that the crown is forever out of her grasp. Perhaps Ember will one day win the NXT Women’s Championship. But that was never the crown she was fighting for in at TakeOver. The crown for Ember was becoming the first woman to defeat Asuka.

There have been five NXT Women’s Champions in history. But not one woman in NXT ever beat Asuka in singles competition. That was the real accolade available in Barclays. Yet despite clearly being recognized as a potential star for a very long time, and seemingly being groomed as The Chosen One, she failed to receive the prize.

To make matters worse, Asuka immediately vacated the title and was placed in line for a main roster call up, making the decision to not put Moon over simply baffling. It’s not as if the main roster handles streaks in the women’s division well: Charlotte lost her pay-per-view winning streak the show before WrestleMania, and Sasha Banks went over a year after being called up without being defeated by pinfall or submission—until literally one week after she won her first title in July 2016. The place to end Asuka’s undefeated streak was NXT, where it would be most beneficial to the winner and cement a new standard bearer. Ember was the right person, at the right time.

But Ember tapped out.

It is clear that Ember Moon has long been recognized by NXT management as a potential top star. Yet she was held off TV for nearly a year (in comparison, Ruby Riot debuted only two months after signing, and Nikki Cross four months after signing) while the division lacked any significant depth, and despite being perfectly placed to depose Asuka, lost to her twice.

Ember has all the talent to be a top star and would have served as a worthy successor to Asuka. She seemed destined to be the anchor for a revitalized division, which peaked in October 2015 when Banks and Bayley main evented TakeOver: Respect, and hasn’t come close to reaching that level since.

But Ember tapped out.