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A few weeks pass until the Kabuki Warriors are seen again on TV in this promo segment. Up until this point the Kabuki Warriors have been working house shows and dark matches, including a dark match before a 205 Live taping. The IIconics first bump into the Authors of Pain, who were talking to Baron Corbin earlier, and then into Paige and the Kabuki Warriors. Paige leads the IIconics on before revealing the IIconics have a match on one of the two shows WWE put on in Tokyo for a short Japanese tour. If the Kabuki Warriors win (spoiler: they do), they get a shot at the tag titles.
Feb 27, 2024
Related Recs
Since all of this is not on YouTube.
On this episode of SmackDown the Tokyo tour dates are recapped, complete with footage of the Kabuki Warriors winning against the IIconics in Tokyo.
A backstage segment (linked here) follows where Paige and the Kabuki Warriors confront the IIconics for the title shot they were promised. The IIconics delay the title match. The segment ends with face manager Paige slapping Billie Kay.
Feb 27, 2024
This WWE exclusive explains how Kairi and Asuka initially wanted to call their tag team "Kabuki Girls" but Paige suggested "Warriors" to make the team sound more "fierce."
A comment under the video (look for the "Joshi Warriors" comment and read that thread) says Asuka wanted the name to come across as "eccentric, weird, unusual." And she's not wrong! There's a Japanese verb called kabuku, which translates to English as "to lean" or "to be out of the ordinary." (The fact I looked for this on the Wikipedia page for "kabuki" in the face of an online fan base that'll yell at you for not knowing a wrestler without Googling but will also make racist jokes without Googling Japanese words says a lot.)
In my opinion Paige should've conveyed the Kabuki Warriors were more eccentric than other teams to the WWE audience as well as their opponents instead of "my girls are the best" and explained what the term kabuki meant to an English-speaking audience but oh well.
After their London appearance the Kabuki Warriors and Paige don't appear for several episodes of SmackDown.
Feb 26, 2024
Forgot to share this before the fatal four-way on Raw. A match between the IIconics and Fire & Desire was canceled on SmackDown, leading to a confrontation between the IIconics, Fire & Desire, and the Kabuki Warriors (with Paige) over a tag title shot in a parking garage.
Mar 1, 2024
Top Recs from @roseplantqueen
Writers questioned Asuka's poison mist gimmick after it appeared in WWE at Hell in a Cell. A writer from Wrestleview called the gimmick "stereotypical." The Ringer blamed the mist gimmick on...Paul Heyman. But here is a video from a WrestleMania weekend where Asuka talks about her admiration for The Great Muta and her desire to do a poison mist gimmick in WWE about a year and a half before she started doing it.
Mar 2, 2024
Since all of this is not on YouTube.
On this episode of SmackDown the Tokyo tour dates are recapped, complete with footage of the Kabuki Warriors winning against the IIconics in Tokyo.
A backstage segment (linked here) follows where Paige and the Kabuki Warriors confront the IIconics for the title shot they were promised. The IIconics delay the title match. The segment ends with face manager Paige slapping Billie Kay.
Feb 27, 2024
IIconics (champions) vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. Kabuki Warriors.
* Mandy Rose rolls up Billie Kay for a pin, eliminating the IIconics.
* Asuka submits Rose with the Asuka Lock, eliminating Rose and Deville.
* Nikki pushes Kairi off the turnbuckle, leaving her susceptible to a punch (forearm?) by Bliss as Paige watches. Bliss hits Twisted Bliss, win titles.
Feb 28, 2024