Vince McMahon Firmly Behind Top WWE Star’s Push

WWE stars are—rightfully—concerned about their spots on the card following the dismissal of Paul Heyman as Raw Executive Director, but one major name’s push appears to be safe.

According to a report from WrestleTalk, Vince McMahon “is still high on Asuka, she won’t be hurt with Heyman gone.” Heyman, who was surprisingly ousted as the creative head of the red brand just a few weeks ago, has long been a well-known fan of Asuka, and he was seen as the true catalyst of her renewed push on Raw over the past year when she went from underutilized tag team performer to Money in the Bank winner to Raw Women’s Champion.

McMahon, however, has also become a huge Asuka fan. It was reported earlier this year that McMahon was “very impressed” with “The Empress of Tomorrow,” in particular her performances during the audience-less Performance Center shows over the past three months. While Raw has, overall, been lackluster during this bizarre era that has been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, Asuka has been one of the true shining stars of the red brand, standing out as both a character and in-ring performer who has put on consistently good to great matches with stars like Charlotte Flair and Nia Jax.

There have, however, been reports indicating that stars whose pushes were backed by Heyman could be in jeopardy of losing those pushes.

According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Wrestling Inc), “A lot of the talent on the WWE RAW brand are reportedly concerned with Paul Heyman being removed as the head of creative for Monday Night RAW…According to The Observer, Heyman had pushed Vince McMahon on the idea that it would take 18 months or longer to create credible new stars, as the company had been failing to push new talent to the top.” Of course, there are a ton of WWE stars who Heyman was attempting to elevate on Raw prior to being removed from his role, a list that included the likes of Aleister Black, Andrade, Drew McIntyre and others.

While some of those names, like McIntyre, are not expected to be affected much, if at all, by Heyman’s departure, Asuka is one of those stars who could have gone either way.

Although Asuka has racked up a Hall of Fame caliber resume that includes runs with the Raw, SmackDown, Tag Team and NXT women’s titles as well as a Royal Rumble and Money in the Bank victory, she hasn’t been immune to bad booking on the main roster, where she’s gone lengthy stretches without any substantial storyline or even without appearing on TV at all. However, now that Becky Lynch is on an indefinite hiatus due to her pregnancy while Asuka is firmly entrenched as a babyface once again, she is essentially the No. 1 fan favorite in Raw’s women’s division.

With the ever-so-controversial Charlotte Flair performing in a tweener role and also set for a lengthy hiatus, Asuka is basically the only babyface on Raw who’s getting anything remotely resembling a substantial push in the women’s division. Truth be told, WWE really has no choice but to push Asuka as the centerpiece of the division as there aren’t many—perhaps any—other female babyfaces who have been built up well enough to carry the weight of the division on their shoulders. The question remains, however, whether WWE will stick with the reignited push for Asuka and the women’s division.

Although there is obviously a renewed effort being put forth into women’s wrestling, the same was true just over a year ago until WWE scaled back on its push significantly due to concern over poor TV viewership and declining business. With TV ratings and overall interest in WWE noticeably down, there is always a chance—perhaps even a good one—that a frustrated McMahon ends the push of anyone who is being pushed right now but isn’t a legend (quite yet) or part-time performer.

That could hold true for Asuka, though she appears safe from McMahon’s infamous flip-flopping for the time being.