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It's now official. Io Shirai is WWE's newest superstar. With the obvious exception of Ronda Rousey, it's WWE's biggest women's acquisition in a long time. She's scheduled to start at the WWE Performance Center in mid-July, and it's expected that she'll take part in the second Mae Young Classic tournament.
She must be considered the early favorite to win. In fact, she was slated to win it last year before injury intervened and her contract was rescinded at the last minute. Thankfully, this time fate has been kinder to her.
If you aren't familiar with Shirai's work, you're in for a treat. She's been widely regarded as the best female wrestler in the world for the past few years, and her arrival is set to elevate the NXT women's division to a level of competition not seen since the days of the four horsewomen.
I recommend watching her match with Meiko Satomura from this past April, as it's arguably the best women's wrestling match this year so far.
And having only just turned 28, Io Shirai can be a mainstay in WWE's women's division for many years to come.
With Japan's top female star headed to the Performance Center, here are 5 other things WWE fans should know about her.
#1 She teamed with Asuka on the independent circuit
Prior to her start as a singles competitor at World Wonder Ring Stardom in 2011, Io Shirai was a tag team wrestler, teaming with her older sister Mio. In 2010, the two would join forces with another freelancer on the Japanese independent circuit, Kana, who would go on to become Asuka in WWE. The stable dubbed itself Triple Tails.
The stable remained together for around a year before splitting up. Shirai has recently stated that a reunion with Asuka as Twin Tails is one of her dreams in wrestling.
Hopefully this particular botch won't happen again though!
#2 Her English is said to be very good
One big struggle that Japanese wrestlers in WWE have faced has been promo work. English is a notoriously difficult language to learn, but this seems to be particularly so for native Japanese speakers.
In addition to Japan having a poor English language education infrastructure, Shinsuke Nakamura has remarked on Talk is Jericho that the language contains pronunciations that don't exist in Japanese. As a result, Japanese people often struggle to speak the language.
For Io Shirai however, it probably won't be as big a problem as it has been with Asuka and others, because her mother was an English teacher, which exposed her to the language at an early age. It's also been reported that Io has been taking private lessons in the language at an expensive conversational school.
In fact, a fan who met her has reported that her English has improved dramatically, and that she was able to answer every question in the language without trouble.
Her only struggle appears to be with conjunctions. When introducing herself in English, her pronunciation appeared crisp and readily comprehensible.
As a result, Io will start in WWE with a tremendous advantage that most of her Japanese counterparts in the company hadn't enjoyed. It seems that she knows fully well the emphasis the company puts on promo work and has been preparing accordingly.
#3 Her dream match is against Charlotte Flair
When answering fan questions (in English), Io Shirai stated explicitly that one of her goals in wrestling is to have a match with Charlotte Flair.
After the barn burner of a match Charlotte just had with Asuka at WrestleMania 34, this would certainly be a welcome contest! There would also be an added element to it in that both women are known for their Moonsaults. While Charlotte's gets more height, Io's is performed more crisply.
This battle between aces, and to determine who the true mistress of the Moonsault is, would be just what the company should want in an era supposedly centered around women's wrestling, and a welcome break from the devolution back into Divas-centered booking we've seen since WrestleMania 33.
#4 She's been obsessed with getting into WWE
For Io Shirai, this was a long time coming. She's reportedly had aspirations to get into the biggest wrestling promotion in the world for the past four years.
The company finally contacted her in late 2016, and she took part in a tryout in the winter of 2017. There, she reportedly impressed the likes of Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and The Undertaker.
However, medical issues caused the company to rescind her first contract offer last June. According to Dave Meltzer, this was devastating to her, and it certainly showed here, where her expressions are revealing.
Reportedly, when her Stardom compatriot Kairi Sane said hello to the WWE Universe last June, the reveal was so painful that she burst into tears, resolving then and there to get into the company no matter what.
Reportedly, she sold her Tokyo apartment and ditched any other roots she had in Japan, as she was determined to go to America as soon as she got the chance.
With that kind of motivation, we should expect her to do far more than necessary in order to live up to her reputation.
#5 She and Kairi Sane have a storied history
Kairi Sane and Io Shirai worked together for half a decade at Stardom. During their tenures there, they developed a frenemy relationship, with a bitter rivalry when the two locked horns and a tense friendship at the best of times.
With Io on her way to NXT just as Kairi will challenge for the women's title at TakeOver: Brooklyn IV, things are about to get very interesting.
Given their long history together, and Io's heartbreak that Kairi got to go to WWE last year while she didn't, NXT has the foundations of a potentially gargantuan feud in its women's division that may be able to rival Sasha Banks vs Bayley in intensity.
Whether Io comes in as a direct enemy, or an ally who becomes a turncoat - an angle centered on her jealousy and bitterness at being passed over last year in favor of Kairi is the fuel for the kind of bonfire that NXT burns so well.
In fact, Io Shirai has already seemed to throw down the gauntlet in response to Kairi's greeting!
Rough translation: "Finally, we'll combat each other again."
Io Shirai is often a tweener on the heelish side, where Kairi Sane is undeniably a babyface. That tension between opposites with a storied history together will certainly make for a great feud in NXT. Stay tuned!
One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE
