Asuka has made an impressive name for herself in the WWE as a tenacious, often vicious opponent who is currently in line to challenge Becky Lynch for the Raw Women’s Championship at the Royal Rumble. Unfortunately, all of that took a backseat earlier this week when Asuka escaped injury during a shooting in the Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas on Tuesday night.
I heard screams from outside the door several times after fleeing to GUESS.#FashionShowMall
— ASUKA / 明日華 (@WWEAsuka) January 22, 2020
While she was lucky, three people were injured during the shooting. Local police labeled this as an “isolated incident” and didn’t expect any further attacks. That proved to be the case as they arrested an 18-year-old man who appeared to start shooting while leaving the mall following an altercation with friend.
Mall shooter in custody.
LVMPD Major Violators and Gangs arrested a
18-year old Las Vegas man for the shooting at Fashion Show
mall last night. #newsalert#news#BreakingNews #LasVegas— LVMPD (@LVMPD) January 23, 2020
The three injured included the suspect’s friend, and two innocent bystanders.
On the plus side, all the injured parties are expected to make a full recovery, which ends this portion on a high note.
The show must go on
We’re all grateful that everyone will be okay and Asuka wasn’t injured, but it’s something that will probably be with her for a while. Still, given everything she’s accomplished in her career to this point and the support she has from fans, family, and her fellow wrestlers, it’s safe to say she’s be able to move forward and put this incident behind her, especially since the show must go on.
In many ways, this seems cruel, but for many it’s easier to deal with things by keeping motivated and busy.
For her, it means getting her head right and stepping into the ring to face Becky Lynch for the Raw Women’s Championship at this Sunday’s Royal Rumble. This is the biggest storyline of the 38-year old’s career, but it’s safe to say it probably won’t work out in her favor.
While she’s considered one of, if not the best, worker in the business, she defeated Lynch at last year’s Royal Rumble and had an impressive 900 day unbeaten streak at one point.
She’s proven herself time and again, and is considered the first Japanese wrestler to fully break through in the United States, making her an icon. To be honest, given how many great wrestlers have worked in the US, it’s hard to know if this is really true. Still, it’s surprising the WWE hasn’t shouted it from the rooftops given how earnestly they try to prove themselves as being progressive.
To be fair, Asuka is one of the top talents in the world, and there are few, if any, reasons for her to lose to Lynch, the fact that Lynch’s storyline has been one of “debts owed” to her by others for some time (a common theme this year with Kofi Kingston having to prove himself against doubters, and Bray Wyatt attacking those that wronged him previously).
Of course, this is all theory and opinion as we’ll find out this Sunday.
If nothing else changes, it’s just awesome to still have Asuka and the others that were at the Fashion Show Mall still with us. At the end of the day, going home to loved ones and friends is the most important thing.
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