What’s the story?
Io Shirai is one of the biggest signings for the WWE women’s division. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reported that she accepted an offer from the WWE on May 15th; however, it seems that she will not compete in the Mae Young Classic due to other commitments in Japan.
In case you didn’t know...
Shirai made her professional wrestling debut in 2007 at the age of 16.She has wrestled for AAA in Mexico and most prominently for World Wonder Ring Stardom in Japan. Stardom would be founded in 2010 and Shirai would begin just before the company’s one-year anniversary.
The heart of the matter...
Reddit user OrangePippen commented on the report by stating that there is a silver lining to this rumor. By bringing her in separately from the tournament, it makes her debut (presumably in NXT) more meaningful.
With Shirai potentially not being able to compete in the Mae Young Classic, it will give another woman the chance to shine, and potentially a feud with Shirai down the road.
What’s next?
The end of Shirai’s commitments in Japan are unknown, but we do know that the Mae Young Classic will take place on July 13th and 14th at Full Sail in Orlando, Florida. It will be similar to the Cruiserweight Classic of last year with 32 of the world’s best women competing to become the first winner of this tournament.
Author’s take...
Once it was first announced that the WWE wanted to bring in Shirai, I immediately looked up some of her matches on YouTube. Needless to say, I was completely impressed.
I have to agree with the Reddit user OrangePippen. Having her debut on NXT instead of the Mae Young Classic will go a long way towards establishing her with the fans. I could go as far as to say she could be the one to finally take the NXT Women’s Championship off of Asuka.
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