Kanako Urai

Kanako Urai (浦井 佳奈子, Urai Kanako, born September 26, 1981) is a Japanese professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Asuka (アスカ or 明日華,), as a member of Damage CTRL. She is one-half of the current WWE Women's Tag Team Champions with Kairi Sane in their second reign as a team and Asuka's record-setting fourth reign individually. Previously known as Kana (華名), she started her professional wrestling career in 2004 in the AtoZ promotion, where she remained until retiring in 2006. She returned to the ring in 2007, starting to work as a freelancer for promotions such as JWP Joshi Puroresu, NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Wave, Reina Joshi Puroresu, Smash, and Wrestling New Classic. Her achievements include winning the JWP Openweight Championship, Smash Diva Championship, and Wave Tag Team Championship. In 2015, Urai signed a developmental deal with WWE, making her the first Japanese female wrestler signed with the company in over 20 years. She won the NXT Women's Championship in 2016 (with her reign of 510 days being the longest in that title's history), and was moved to WWE's main roster in 2017. In 2018, she was the inaugural winner of the Women's Royal Rumble match. She is also ... ()