Asuka Beats Mandy Rose, Retains SmackDown Women's Title at WWE Fastlane 2019

Asuka defeated Mandy Rose at WWE Fastlane on Sunday to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship.

Midway through the match, Sonya Deville lifted up the ring apron to grab a kendo stick from under the ring. That moment proved pivotal in the outcome.

Rose was running off the ropes when she tripped over the apron, which allowed Asuka to land a spinning back kick flush on Rose's jaw.

It's not exactly a victory that strengthens Asuka's reputation.

After retaining the SmackDown women's title over Becky Lynch at the Royal Rumble, Asuka wasn't seen much over the next few weeks. She finally resurfaced a couple of weeks ago to face Mandy in a singles match on SmackDown Live, and the result was shocking.

With Deville and Lacey Evans providing distractions outside the ring, as well as Rose feigning an eye injury, The Empress of Tomorrow was thrown off her game. That led to Mandy rolling her up and scoring a huge, non-title victory over Asuka.

On the heels of that win, Rose was installed as the No. 1 contender for the SmackDown Women's Championship, and she earned the biggest match of her career at Fastlane.

Asuka never lost a singles match in NXT and had to surrender the NXT Women's Championship before making the leap to the main roster rather than losing it. Since getting called up, however, Asuka has suffered her fair share of disappointments.

It started last year at WrestleMania 34 when she shockingly tapped out in a loss to Charlotte Flair with the SmackDown women's title on the line.

Asuka has lost multiple times since then as well to the likes of Carmella, The IIconics and Mandy. Because of that, she entered Fastlane without the aura of invincibility she once had.

While Asuka was still a heavy favorite to win, there were several factors she had to worry about. Chief among them was the presence of Deville, who is a big reason why Rose has enjoyed so much success lately. Also, Mandy's conniving ways gave her a fighting chance despite her in-ring deficiencies.

Asuka still managed to emerge with the title in tow, which didn't come as a major surprise since it seemed likely that WWE would want her to be the one to carry the SmackDown Women's Championship into WrestleMania.

The focus will now shift toward Asuka's potential WrestleMania opponent, but nobody has truly emerged to this point. Evans is a possibility since she distracted Asuka in one of her matches, or Asuka could potentially be tasked with defending the title in the second annual WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal.

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