Kana is officially a WWE superstar

The news came out just in the last day that perhaps the best competitor in modern Japanese women's wrestling has signed a deal with WWE. It appears to be an interesting one as well, since she will keep her current in-ring name as she makes the sojourn into WWE waters.

Image credit: WWE.com. 

I first discovered Kana a few years back when her name was first announced for a SHIMMER show. I ended up learning about Tajiri's SMASH promotion from researching her and immediately became a huge fan of her work. She's an incredibly woman inside the ring with all the charisma necessary to make it as a stop wrestling star. Even without perfect English skills (though to my understanding her English is better than most Japanese wrestlers), she should have no problem interesting fans.

With three out of the Four Horsewomen now out of NXT, Bayley will need new competitors. Eva Marie, Alexa Bliss, Carmella and Dana Brooke all have a ways to go to make it to that point. Emma can run Bayley through her paces, but even Emma isn't at the booking level that any of the other women are at. Nia Jax might alter that in a few more weeks, but Kana could do it instantly. She could run any of the other NXT women through the paces, let alone the talent on the main roster.

She has a few weeks of shows to finish up in Japan with rumors floating she will start in NXT come October. I doubt it will be long for her to make her televised debut.

I'm going to flash everyone back to one of my favorite Kana feuds with a series of matches she had with Serena Deeb. They were hard hitting encounters and in the long run served to shorten Serena's career, but they were amazing bouts well worth a view, as were so many of SMASH's best matches.


The full announcement from WWE is below.

STAMFORD, Conn. — WWE announced today the signing of international superstar Kanako Urai, aka Kana, to the NXT division. Kana will officially report to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., in late September.

Over the course of her 11-year career, Kana has become one of the most exciting women ever to compete in Japan. She has appeared in many organizations throughout the country and has held multiple championships. Last month, Kana made a surprise appearance at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, sitting in the audience ringside next to WWE Hall of Famer “Nature Boy” Ric Flair.

“We are very excited to have Kana join the NXT roster,” said Triple H, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent, Creative and Live Events. “Her exciting in-ring style will make an immediate impact on the already impressive NXT women’s division.”

CORRECTION: While it was originally reported that Kana would keep her ring name this information changed just days after this article was posted, as Kana took the new name Asuka.