Asuka Beats Ember Moon to Retain NXT Women's Title at WWE NXT TakeOver: Orlando

Asuka defeated Ember Moon on Saturday night at NXT TakeOver: Orlando to continue her run as the longest-reigning NXT women's champion in history.

WWE showed Asuka with the newly designed women's title belt after beating Moon:

During the build toward TakeOver, Asuka had run through essentially every woman on the NXT roster, but Moon emerged as the No. 1 contender and was given a shot at the title by NXT general manager William Regal following her win over Billie Kay.

After the match was announced for TakeOver, Moon acknowledged that she was once fearful of the Empress of Tomorrow, according to WWE.com:

"

I can honestly say that I used to be afraid of Asuka. Before I got to NXT, I used to watch her and think that she is someone I would not want to get in the ring with. Before I got to NXT, my confidence was very low, and I never thought I would amount to anything in sports-entertainment. But now, I'm going back and watching those old tapes of Asuka, watching the person I used to be afraid of. Now, I'm ready to face those fears and stand toe-to-toe with Asuka.

"

While Asuka appeared to be unstoppable, Moon had built an impressive reputation for herself as well in less than a year on the NXT roster.

Although Asuka entered TakeOver: Orlando having never lost a match in NXT, Moon was also undefeated in singles matches, which meant something had to give.

One thing Moon had working to her advantage was the presence of her devastating finishing move in the form of the Eclipse.

Moon had put away several Superstars with the top-rope, twisting Stunner and nearly injured Kay with it in a match a few weeks prior to TakeOver.

That led to Kay and Peyton Royce calling for the move to be banned, but their suggestions were ignored, which meant the Eclipse was available to be used in the biggest match of Moon's career at NXT TakeOver: Orlando.

It can be argued that there is no more dangerous move in WWE than the Eclipse, though seemingly everything Asuka does is dangerous.

From the Asuka Lock to her incredible array of kicks and strikes, the Japanese Superstar had beaten all comers and entered TakeOver as arguably the most dominant woman ever to set foot in a WWE ring.

Despite that, there were whispers that she could suffer her first loss to Moon and drop the title since she is undoubtedly ready to be called up to the main roster.

NXT stars usually lose their championships before getting called up, which led to speculation that Asuka would follow that same trend.

Asuka managed to retain, though, which creates some question marks with regard to whether a call-up is in her immediate future.

No matter what is next for Asuka or Moon, they put on a spectacular show at NXT TakeOver: Orlando, and they continued the positive momentum WWE has created in the realm of women's wrestling in recent years.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player above (warning: some language NSFW).