Over the past few years, Io Shirai has become one of the highlights of the WWE NXT women’s division. She is a bonafide high-flying athlete who already had the honor of holding the NXT Women’s Championship. During that title reign and beyond, she has competed in numerous top matches to put the NXT Women’s Division on the map. She recently seems to have suffered an injury and henceforth is missing from action.
As per the current updates from social media, Io Shirai is dealing with an injury. A photo surfaced on the internet of the NXT Superstar, wearing boots and a leg brace that indicated that there was something wrong with her legs. Fightful Select also supported the rumors by updating that she’s dealing with an injury.
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Io appears to be in a boot and on crutches (see bottom right of first picture), makes sense why she wasn’t called up and hasn’t been on NXT ? pic.twitter.com/GjNspM1052
— Sean Slate (@slate_s42) April 19, 2022
Most likely the spot where the injury occurred. No clue why they decided to move the announce table so close to the ring. pic.twitter.com/SIDHzl2sfj
— Sean Slate (@slate_s42) April 19, 2022
As seen in the given photos, Io Shirai was spotted celebrating an occasion with fellow Japanese WWE Superstars such as Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroyo Matsumoto. A fan on Reddit then pointed out that she was sporting a leg brace. Another fan on Twitter shared a video clip to point out the possible spot of the injury. During her Stand & Deliver match, Io hit a moonsault off the top rope to the floor to take out her opponent, but while taking the bump, her leg hit the announce table in an awkward way.
No confirmation has been received from WWE or the superstar herself of the injury as we expect more updates in the future.
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Io Shirai is a former champion on NXT brand
Io Shirai and Kay Lee Ray won the 2022 edition of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament. This obviously led to the speculations that they would challenge Toxic Attraction’s Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles. But they forfeited that opportunity to receive an NXT Women’s Title match.
Io Shirai was this a part of a Fatal Four Way Match for the NXT Women’s Title. Shirai, Cora Jade, and Alba Fyre (fka Kay Lee Ray) came up short as the champion Mandy Rose retained her title in that match.
A main roster call-up for Io Shirai was expected as she worked in a dark match (SmackDown taping from the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri on January 28, 2022). earlier this year and defeated Dakota Kai. However, there is no update on whether that move is expected.
January’s SmackDown TV taping marked Io Shirai’s first main roster match since the 2019 Survivor Series pay-per-view, where Team NXT defeated Team RAW and Team SmackDown in the 5-on-5-on-5 Traditional Tag Team Elimination Match. Apart from the Japanese star, Kai has also worked several SmackDown dark matches in the summer and fall of 2021 but it was her former tag team partner Raquel Gonzalez who received the call up after WrestleMania under the name of Raquel Rodriguez.
