On the April 16 episode of SmackDown, Paige made an announcement. No longer the program's general manager, she would be managing a new tag team composed of Asuka and former NXT women's champion Kairi Sane. The latter was called up from NXT to make this possible.

In their debut match, the two women, along with Ember Moon and Bayley, defeated the IIconics, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. Asuka hit Peyton Royce with a Reverse DDT and then tagged in Sane to hit the Insane Elbow. On the April 23 episode of SmackDown, Sane fought in a singles match, with Asuka and Paige ringside. Again, Sane emerged victorious.

Obviously, these matches help get Sane over; any casual fans who don't watch NXT are learning about her right now. What's less clear is how this will affect Asuka.

The Empress of Tomorrow had her career yanked out from underneath her prior to WrestleMania 35. Charlotte won the SmackDown Women's Championship from Asuka at a non-pay-per-view event, adding an additional, unnecessary incentive to the women's main event.

Asuka went from world champion to an entrant in the WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal. The prior year, this same woman won the 2018 Royal Rumble and had the longest-running win streak in recent WWE history. To call it a fall from grace would be an understatement.

Her current tag team pairing with Sane is being met with a mixed response. At first glance, it appears to be a demotion to chase the tag titles, instead of competing for the singles title. But the move to the tag team division will actually protect Asuka and keep a future singles push safe.

SmackDown is full of talented, relatively green women, such as Deville, Rose, Liv Morgan and Ember Moon—all of whom need to be featured and elevated. If Asuka was involved in the singles mix, it would only serve to deprive these women of the experience and spotlight they could get by simply fighting each other.

These are the pitfalls of building a Superstar around an undefeated streak—how do you top that, once the streak is broken? Because of that streak, Asuka is trapped in a weird, narrative Catch-22; due to her past reputation, she's expected to win and squash all in her matches against newer talent; anything less than that doesn't seem realistic, given what we know about here.

At the same time, any attempt to add complexity—humanize her and make her struggle to earn those wins— will also rub fans the wrong way. And as for a straight-up loss? It has an outsized, inflated importance, thanks to its rarity. And it further detracts from what we do know about Asuka as a character.

Had Asuka simply continued with her solo career as it was, that would have gotten redundant and ultimately stale. This tag team with Sane gives Asuka a chance to break the narrative cycle.

The Japan native struggles with her in-ring promos due to her English; having her more fluent countrywoman as a tag partner will help her to negotiate the language barrier better. And even if that doesn't work well enough to Vince McMahon's liking, Asuka and Sane are paired with Paige, one of the best talkers in the company.

The tag team pairing takes pressure off Asuka while simultaneously keeping her in the spotlight; surely, Sane and Asuka are future women's tag team champions. And by the time the Empress is ready to go solo again (hopefully as a heel), the rest of the SmackDown women will have built their reputations solidly enough to face her without creating a no-win scenario.

So perhaps it is a demotion. But it's one that frees the character of its routine and will hopefully lead to something better.