Bianca Belair Defeats Asuka, Retains Raw Women's Title at WWE WrestleMania 39

Bianca Belair beat Asuka on Night 2 of WrestleMania 39 on Sunday to retain the Raw Women's Championship and extend her yearlong title reign.

The Empress of Tomorrow appeared to have the titleholder in trouble on occasion, but The EST of WWE found a way to counter her opponent and keep hold of her belt.

Throughout the summer and fall, Asuka teamed with Belair and Alexa Bliss in their battle against Damage CTRL, even winning the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships with The Goddess briefly.

Shortly after they dropped the titles back to Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai, The Empress disappeared from WWE programming, but she resurfaced as a surprise entrant in the women's Royal Rumble match.

She had a completely different look and attitude and nearly won the second Rumble match of her career, finishing as the second runner-up behind Liv Morgan and winner Rhea Ripley.

Despite falling just short, Asuka was given another potential path to WrestleMania when she competed in a women's Elimination Chamber match at the same-titled pay-per-view in February for the right to face Belair at The Show of Shows.

The Empress went up against some of the best female Superstars WWE has to offer in Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Carmella, Nikki Cross and Natalya, but she outlasted all of them to become No. 1 contender.

With her 'Mania opponent in place, Belair began scouting Asuka in an effort to see what she would be in for on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

The EST initially seemed taken aback and perhaps even afraid of her rival, especially when she stared into Belair's eyes while blue mist poured out of her mouth following a win over Cross on Raw.

Belair and Asuka entered the biggest show of the year with differing levels of success at WrestleMania, as the former beat Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch in back-to-back years, while the latter's only singles matches at the event were losses to Ripley and Charlotte Flair.

Asuka aimed to finally get in the win column at WrestleMania 39, but Belair continued her dominance at the event by retaining the Raw women's title.

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