[2018-04-08-WWE-Wrestlemania XXXIV] Charlotte Flair vs Asuka

[ShittyLittleBoots]

Loved this. Big match feel right from the entrances - both women showed lots of swagger & charisma; loved Asuka’s work over Charlotte - her offense was even more violent than usual, those Shibata -esq kicks to the head were amazing as well as those brutal stomps to the back. ***3/4

[G. Badger]

I was very impressed with the match and would say it was the second best match of the show in terms of athleticism and telling a story within the ring. I haven't seen enough of either to rate it but, if they're doing this on a regular basis, I might have to make point to watch Smackdown.

[Richeyedwards]

My match of the night, it was the only match on the show where I was completely invested in the match and ignoring twitter or pwo.

 

It had a big fight feel and was worked frenetically but targeted particularly by asuka. The kobashi Vs akiyama apron suplex was nuts as was the Spanish fly which was really scary.

 

I was not a fan of the finish at first but on further reflection it does not seem that bad, if asuka comes back again with focus on building up to challenge again I am all for this. Maybe the undefeated streak being lost will be a weight lifted from her in a way or it could take away from her future matches, we will have to just wait and see. MOTN ****

[Wahoos Leg]

This felt a little shaky at the start, then got real good, but I'm baffled by the finish. Charlotte might be the most protected member of the roster, creatively, who isn't Lesnar.

[fxnj]

This was good, though it didn't quite live up to my expectations. I wasn't too into it at the start, but it settled into a really nice groove in the latter half with Asuka stiffing an increasingly desperate Charlotte and looking for all kinds of ways to contort her arm. The key spots in the triangle moonsault counter, the apron suplex, and the spanish fly were all exciting, though the triangle did look a little sloppy. The finish came out of nowhere, though. Charlotte casually getting her figure 8 out of nowhere and Asuka doing nothing to fight it despite it being done with one arm is weak. I can't but feel this would be a lot more memorable if they had 5 more minutes to work with. Asuka's post-match promo and celebration was some strong stuff and gave it the feel of a passing of the torch moment. ***3/4

 

I will also mention that you really need to watch Asuka's pre-WWE stuff if you think her strikes here were anything special.

[Downend2005]

Charlotte looks like an absolute megastar with her entrance, and based on this and her previous WM entrances, she would certainly look the part main eventing WM 35.

Asuka catching Charlotte in the triangle off the moonsault was a fantastic spot, but it came far too early in the match, it would have been off the charts if it was part of the finishing stretch. 

There were some nutty bumps (the suplex from the apron, the Spanish fly) but the match itself was good without ever threatening to be great, and it didn’t really build to an exciting finishing stretch.

This was the absolute wrong finish too, as I’ve said elsewhere on the forums, I’d have gone with the Bret Hart/Roddy Piper WM8 finish with Charlotte reversing the Asuka lock after a long period of struggle into a flash pin. They actually did it during the match to little reaction, but the hold was barely applied before Charlotte countered. I still don’t think Asuka has recovered from losing via submission, especially after failing to submit Charlotte on multiple occasions and then tapping herself so quickly.