When WWE was readying for its draft to split RAW and Smackdown into separate brands last summer, Paul “Triple H” Levesque had one request of WWE boss Vince McMahon.

Levesque knew he would be losing female talent from NXT to the main roster, but one performer was untouchable in his eyes.

“I would never want to limit someone’s growth or their opportunities, but when Vince brought it up to me, I said the one person who we can’t afford to lose is Asuka,” Levesque, WWE’s executive vice president for talent, live events and creative, told For the Win this week. “You could take everybody else you want to take – and trust me, he did – but I need her as an anchor. If I lose her and everybody else, I’m doomed.”

It is that type of belief in what Asuka was then – and what she’s since become – that has made her run as NXT women’s champion the longest title reign in WWE history, man or woman, and the keeper of the longest undefeated streak in wrestling once held by Bill Goldberg, who has become a fan of hers.

Earlier this week, Asuka passed Rockin’ Robin’s tenure of 502 days as WWF women’s champion in the 1980s. The Fabulous Moolah was WWF women’s champion seemingly for decades, although limited records exist on her specific reigns. Asuka’s record does not include the championship reigns of Bruno Sammartino, Pedro Morales, Bob Backlund and Hulk Hogan, but those came before WWE’s national expansion and likely will never be toppled.

Asuka defends the NXT women’s title Saturday at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III (8 p.m. ET, WWE Network) against Ember Moon, who had debuted in her new character just a month before the WWE draft. She previously worked in NXT for nine months under her given name, Adrienne Reese.

Levesque says he hears people question why an undefeated streak or long title run matters in an entertainment-driven company in which the results are predetermined. He answers with this: Faith.

“It’s the faith to say that you’re that person and to say that if you hold that championship that the belief is there in you to lead a division or a company or a group and to be in that position,” he said. “For somebody like her, here’s that faith for that long of a period of time and we’re not beating you, we’re keeping a championship on you and keeping it fresh. That’s a pretty bold statement of how good you are.”

Asuka (Photo: WWE)

Asuka’s ascendance came at a key time in WWE amid the women’s revolution that changed the style that women worked, saw the elimination of the term “Diva” and a greater acceptance of women performers of different shapes and sizes.

But her impact goes back even further than when she won the title; it traces to WWE’s decision to sign her. Asuka – real name Kanako Urai – debuted in Japan in 2004 and used the “strong style” that typifies the more physical style of Japanese wrestling. Beyond her own wrestling career, she was promoting shows with other female wrestlers and caught the eye of WWE’s worldwide recruiting efforts. She also had made a number of appearances in the United States.

Asuka was shown in the crowd at the initial NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn in 2015 and identified as Kana, the name she used in Japan. The following month, WWE announced that it has signed her.

Levesque saw her as a difference maker.

“When we signed her, it made everybody already inside look at who we were bringing in and they were seeing what I was seeing – this girl is going to change the game,” Levesque said. “That’s why I wanted to bring her in. I could see what she had and how I took her into morphing and really helping make this change to the product. I think she’s done that. She’s changed the main roster too and how the girls work and that intensity level.”

It was among her goals when she arrived.

“I wanted to change women’s wrestling in WWE,” Asuka recently told Newsweek through an interpreter. “In wrestling, men and women do the same thing, but sometimes the men look more powerful and more impressive. I am trying my best to fill the gap between men and women.”

The performers on the main roster regularly mention her as someone they are eager to face – “I’d love to get my hands on Asuka,” Natalya recently told For The Win — and she has mentioned Charlotte Flair  and Sasha Banks as potential future opponents.

Perhaps most impressive about Asuka’s impact is that she has thrived in front of an American audience despite the language barrier. The throbbing music, the multi-colored hair, the long ring robes and the geisha mask that she wears to the ring set an aggressive tone. She routinely laughs at her opponents. The physical style she uses when the bell rings only emphasizes her audacious character. Fans routinely chant, “Asuka’s gonna kill you” at her opponents – a takeoff on a chant used for Samoa Joe.

“Nobody is ready for Asuka” has become the 35-year-old’s catchphrase – an effective one-liner that essentially defines her.

But consider the contract signing between Asuka and Moon that aired this week on NXT television. Both women came to the ring. Moon made an impassioned statement about why the TakeOver bout would be her moment and signed the contract. Asuka then signed, grabbed the microphone and approaching Moon, holding the title belt in Moon’s face. She then launched into a quick burst in Japanese.

“In some ways, that’s helped her in keeping some of the mystery,” Levesque said. “There’s a saying, ‘It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. She’ll speak a bit in English and then she says something in Japanese, I get more out of the way she says it and the intensity. I don’t speak Japanese so I have no idea what she said – but I know what she meant. It’s powerful and strong and that keeps an aura about her.”