Early Life
Kanako Urai was born on September 26, 1981, in Osaka, Japan. She attended Osaka University of Arts Junior College. Before her professional wrestling career took off, Kanako worked in the video game industry as a graphic designer; she has worked on graphics for the Nintendo DS and several mobile applications in addition to writing for XBox Magazine.
After becoming a fan of stars like Keiji Mutoh, Minoru Suzuki, and Antonio Inoki, Kanako was drawn to the sport of professional wrestling. When she was in her early 20s, she decided it was time for a career change.
Wrestling Career In Japan
Kanako made her professional wrestling debut on June 16, 2004, in the now-defunct Japanese promotion AtoZ under the ring name Kana. However, just 2 years later she suddenly retired due to chronic nephritis, a kind of inflammation in the kidneys.
Fortunately, Kana was able to make her return to the ring in 2007. For the next eight years, Kana worked as a freelance wrestler and made appearances for numerous promotions across Japan, including Smash, Pro Wrestling Wave, Reina Joshi Puroresu, and Ice Ribbon. Kana even self-produced professional wrestling events, the first of which was called Kana Pro.
On August 3, 2011, Kana made her American debut with the all-women’s promotion Shimmer. She made numerous appearances for the promotion, along with working a few matches across the American independent circuit. It wasn’t long until she caught the eye of WWE.
The Empress Comes To NXT
On September 8, 2015, Kana announced that she had signed with WWE and had adopted the ring name Asuka. By doing so, Asuka became the first Japanese woman to sign with WWE since Bull Nakano in 1994.
It didn’t take long for Asuka to reach the top of the mountain in NXT; she defeated Bayley to win the NXT Women’s Championship at NXT Takeover: Dallas. She defended her title against stars like Nia Jax, Mickie James, Ember Moon, and Nikki Cross.
Unfortunately, a broken collarbone would force Asuka to relinquish the NXT Women’s Championship. She became the longest reigning women’s champion in NXT history, with her run totaling 510 days.
Asuka On The Main Roster
After a series of vignettes to hype up her return to the ring, WWE revealed that Asuka had been signed to Monday Night Raw. She made her main roster debut on October 22, 2017, at TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs in a match against Emma.
At this point, Asuka was in the middle of an impressive undefeated streak. The streak continued through the inaugural Women’s Royal Rumble match, which Asuka won. Unfortunately for Asuka, her streak would come to a close at Wrestlemania 34 when she lost to Charlotte Flair in a bout for the WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship.
Asuka was able to capture the WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship at 2018’s TLC event in a tables, ladders, and chairs match against Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. Her title reign lasted 100 days and came to a close when she dropped the belt to Charlotte Flair.
Asuka would then spend some time in the tag division alongside Kairi Sane as the Kabuki Warriors. They quickly found success as a duo and won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships at Hell in a Cell in 2019.
In 2020, Asuka won the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match, the prize for which was actually the Raw Women’s Championship. She held the title until The Horror Show At Extreme Rules, when she lost the belt to Sasha Banks.
In 2023, Asuka presented a stark change in her persona; she was much more heelish, and sporting clown-like face paint. This new mean streak enabled Asuka to win the Raw Women’s Championship from Bianca Belair at Wrestlemania 39, which was then rebranded into the WWE Women’s Championship.
