WWE Wisely Pulls Off A Pair Of Major Babyface Turns

WWE has been forced to make a slew of big changes to its roster thanks to the absences of Roman Reigns and Becky Lynch, and it’s already pulled off a pair of babyface turns that may have been overlooked.

According to the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer (h/t Cageside Seats), “Asuka’s face turn came about for the reason most of us figured it did, per Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer – because heels Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler are the next title programs.”

Of course, Asuka was the only other WWE superstar present for Lynch’s big announcement on last week’s Raw that she was pregnant and that Asuka would not be just the Money in the Bank winner but also the new Raw Women’s Champion. It was reported that Asuka’s reaction was genuine as she wasn’t informed about the announcement in advance, and the heartwarming reaction of “The Empress of Tomorrow” served as the perfect means to officially transition her to a fan favorite role, which has actually been a long time coming. McMahon is said to have been very impressed with Asuka’s performances during the crowd-less Performance Center shows, as the talented star has indeed been the highlight of this bizarre WWE era.

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Asuka, however, wasn’t initially planned to win the unique “climb the corporate ladder” MITB match, a role that had been slated for Shayna Baszler until Lynch’s pregnancy threw a major wrench into WWE’s creative plans. It appears that Asuka will be the biggest beneficiary of that as, seemingly in the blink of an eye, she has ascended to the top spot as the No. 1 babyface in Raw’s women’s division. At a time when Raw viewership has been historically low, the loss of Lynch can’t be overstated, and Asuka will have a lot of pressure on her shoulders to carry the women’s division at a time when the absence of Lynch will have an undeniably huge impact.

To go along with Asuka’s renewed push as a babyface, her Kabuki Warriors tag team partner Kairi Sane has also apparently transitioned back to her much more natural babyface role. WWE had made the short-sighted decision to turn Sane, who is a phenomenal fan favorite, heel alongside Asuka in a move that has really hampered her WWE career, which has been a rocky one on the main roster after she had plenty of success in NXT. McMahon apparently wasn’t thrilled with Sane’s match with Baszler on Raw earlier this year, and it was reported late last year that Sane was “exploring options” outside of WWE as she remained unhappy in the United States.

The COVID-19 pandemic has limited Sane’s non-WWE options for the time being, though, and perhaps her much-needed babyface turn will reinvigorate her career after it hit a standstill during her run in the tag team position. At least theoretically, Sane could be positioned as the No. 2 babyface on Raw, which is heel heavy in the women’s division where Baszler, Nia Jax and even Charlotte Flair (who’s technically still a member of the Raw roster) give the division a strong trio of heel performers. The babyface side is relatively unproven, however, with Bianca Belair and Liv Morgan being fairly new to the scene and not being pushed hard just yet.

That may provide the very talented Sane, one of WWE’s best in-ring performers, with the opportunity to climb up the card and land alongside Asuka, who has become the overnight face of Raw’s women’s division and a surefire cornerstone of the red brand.