Over the weekend, Becky Lynch and Asuka got into a little back-and-forth on Twitter.
This was not surprising, for any number of reasons. The two are set to wrestle for the SmackDown Women’s championship at Royal Rumble in Phoenix in two weeks, social media is one of if not the primary way WWE feuds are built these days and, well, it’s The Man’s bread and butter, right?
It started normally enough, with Lynch quote-tweeting the Empress of Tomorrow’s lifestyle blogger-esque pics of her apartment:
I’m going to hit you 9% harder just because of your Twitter. https://t.co/EZrYeb1Dd9
— The Man (@BeckyLynchWWE) January 12, 2019
Asuka didn’t get the joke (posting pics of the cool new poster you bought is trite/lame), and that’s where things get weird...
Why = cause you’re one step away from posting cat pics and this is an intervention.
— The Man (@BeckyLynchWWE) January 12, 2019
What am I saying? = I will now hit you 42% harder for your reply
Am I out of my mind? = Obvs not.
I’m going to hit you 162% harder just because of your Twitter
— ASUKA / 明日華 (@WWEAsuka) January 12, 2019
You are cracked up https://t.co/ibcsioVocA
The easy explanation for why this is different from Becky’s usual “insult -> lame/okay response -> ownage” cycle is the language barrier. But Lynch handled that critique fairly well, and used it to get back to her original slam:
The only way Asuka is going to kill me is by boring me to death with pictures of her apartment.
— The Man (@BeckyLynchWWE) January 12, 2019
But The Man still seems rattled, more than she’s ever been by “little weirdo” Ronda Rousey or “Bootleg Becky” Charlotte Flair. I think it’s because Asuka’s personality is much more than that of a Japanese speaker. She’s also either a little bit psycho, expert at playing psycho to keep her opponents off guard, or both.
It leaves Lynch reaching for a retort in a way she never has to with Flair or Rousey, Corey Graves or Seth Rollins. She’s forced to try and callback to one of her more successful Twitter offensives:
And you retweet your own tweets. What’s wrong with you all? #worsethanronnie
— The Man (@BeckyLynchWWE) January 12, 2019
Becky seems to realize this, and quietly backs out of the fight with as normal a close as she can muster:
It takes two to tango https://t.co/KPLIolckzr
— ASUKA / 明日華 (@WWEAsuka) January 12, 2019
Meanwhile, the current titleholder is appropriating Becky’s trash talk and... I think trying to play matchmaker for Carmella and Sonya Deville?
Stop! I don’t wanna hear this anymore. Why can’t you guys try to get to know each other?
— ASUKA / 明日華 (@WWEAsuka) January 12, 2019
Love laughs at locksmiths https://t.co/bc3i3AWa9f
I’m going to hit you 9% harder just because of your Twitter https://t.co/6387sDZia7
— ASUKA / 明日華 (@WWEAsuka) January 12, 2019
I mean, what do you say to “Love laughs at locksmiths” and a woozy face emoji?