Asuka has everything you want in a wrestler, a captivating personality, athleticism, and an arsenal of different moves to keep viewers interested. Strangely, Asuka born, Kanako Urai, was almost forced out of a career in pro-wrestling after developing nephritis, a rare disease that inflames the tissue in the kidneys. While working both as a graphic designer and occasionally making appearances in independent promotions in Japan, she quickly became a highly-popularized act for her in-ring antics. Asuka became known for her striking ability, particular in kickboxing utilizing moves like the Missile Dropkick and Roundhouse kick that would send her opponents flying across the ring.
In 2004, Asuka made her in-ring debut under the all-women promotion, AtoZ. From there she would wrestle for several different Japanese organizations including Ice Ribbon, Pro Wrestling Wave, NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling, Smash and more before finally signing a contract with the WWE. Asuka became the NXT Women's Champion for a total of 510 days, the longest reign in the belt's history. When she was promoted to the main WWE roster, Asuka was billed as having the longest undefeated streak in WWE history" at 914 days. In January 2018, Asuka became the inaugural winner of the Women's Royal Rumble match. Asuka has held nine different championship titles across all of the other platforms she's wrestled for and claimed the Smackdown Women's Championship once and is the current WWE Women's Tag Team Champion alongside her partner Kairi Sane.