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There was a time when Io Shirai was not only the top female performer in/on NXT but was considered a favorite to become a fixture of a WWE television too, be that on RAW or SmackDown.
On paper, she had it all; she had a good look, was a fantastic worker, and could play the role of championing babyface or cocky heel depending on what the story asked of her at the time. And yet fast forward to the middle of 2022, and Shirai has largely been an afterthought on the NXT landscape, with Mandy Rose and Toxic Attraction taking over the top of the card and young performers like Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade rising up the ranks to challenge them.
Now granted, that is largely out of Shirai's hands, as she was injured back in April and has been held out of action ever since but the general assumption around the wrestling world was once she returned to full strength, the 32-year-old from Japan would be right back in the NXT main event picture, if not elevated to one of the main WWE brands.
… except that might not be how Shirai reportedly wants to handle things moving forward.
No, according to The Wrestling Observer, Shirai's contract is going to expire later this year and she is leaning towards returning to Japan for the next chapter of her career, presumably to wrestle for her former promotion Stardom.
Io Shirai has a home away from WWE in Stardom.
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Though most fans of WWE don't know much about World Wonder Ring Stardom the wrestling promotion – known casually as Stardom – they are certainly familiar with many of the company's former wrestlers, as performers like Asuka, Toni Storm, and yes, Io Shirai all worked for the Japanese company before taking their talents stateside.
A sister company of New Japan Pro Wrestling, Stardom is the top female wrestling promotion in Japan and has produced many of the best female wrestlers in the world today thanks to their uber-athletic style of match-making and innovating booking like the invention of the High-Speed Championship, which prioritizes speedy, athletic bouts over more methodical grappling affairs the likes of which are displayed in bouts for the ROH Pure Championship. Before Shirai was the NXT Women's Tag Team Champion or even the NXT Women's Champion, she was the proud holder of multiple titles across the Stardom oeuvre, including the Wonder of Stardom Championship, the Artist of Stardom Championship, the World of Stardom Championship, the Goddesses of Stardom Championship, and the aforementioned High-Speed Championship, which she held for 292 days according to Cagematch.
If Shirai wants to return to Japan in a more full-time capacity, returning to America only for the occasional signing event, convention, or I don't know, run in AEW alongside fellow stardom performers like Riho, Emi Sakura, and Hikaru Shida, then there really isn't another option at her disposal, as WWE isn't particularly open to having their talent perform for other promotions as Kairi Sane unfortunately learned when she left the company last year.
Would it be a bummer to see Io Shirai leave the WWE Universe to pursue other avenues back in Japan if she ultimately leaves? You bet; Shirai is quite literally one of the best wrestlers in the world today and deserves a ton of credit for the efforts she gave to Vince McMahon's company over the past four years. But hey, at least fans can look forward to new dream matches like Shirai versus Kairi Sane, who she hasn't wrestled since all the way back in 2019.
