5 NXT stars who could win Royal Rumble 2022

#4. Former NXT Women's Champion Io Shirai is a legitimate threat at Royal Rumble

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Io Shirai has been part of NXT for over three years. In that time, she has won both the Women's Championship and the Women's Tag Team titles.

She previously entered the Royal Rumble in 2019, lasting over 13 minutes. After a plethora of talent releases in 2021, WWE will likely have a lot of open spots, making Shirai one of the best choices from NXT to take part in the Rumble.

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While Shirai might want another shot at the NXT Women's title, she'll have to wait until after New Year's Evil. In the meantime, she could prepare for the upcoming Battle Royale.

On the other hand, she could debut on the main roster during Royal Rumble 2022. SmackDown desperately needs credible challengers, so Shirai winning and joining the blue brand would be a smart move.

About the author

Matt Serocki is a sports journalist from outside of Boston, Massachusetts who has written about sports for a local newspaper, the MetroWest Daily News.

Matt has written about professional wrestling for the past year but has been writing lyrics, short stories and novels in his spare time. He writes around 30-50 articles per month.

During his time on writing for Sportskeeda, Matt has written about a variety of topics including the history of the business as well as about the current stars and product. He follows numerous promotions like the WWE, AEW, ROH, MLW, NJPW, Championship Wrestling from Hollywood and WOW.

Studied Communications with a focus on writing at Framingham State University from 2000-2004.

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Edited by Angana Roy