My dev guy said to explain a little more so here it is... we discovered a little workaround but doesn't really fix the core problem.
When we export a spine animation, the json data has an array of skins under the skins property each with a name and attachment property which doesn't properly generate a SkeletonDataAsset on import. However, if we convert skins to an object consisting of layers, the import process generates a SkeletonAssetData as expected
Hopefully that gives a little more insight on what's happening and what exactly seems to be causing the issue.
also, thanks for the input so far guys!!