Io Shirai made her first WWE appearance.
A month ago, it was reported that Japanese wrestler and former STARDOM Champion Io Shirai had agreed to terms with WWE and would be reporting to the performance center in Orlando soon. She had her last match for STARDOM scheduled and on Friday she was at the WWE Tokyo event on Friday.
A wrestler Shirai has competed against before is NXT's Kairi Sane who also came to WWE from STARDOM before she wrestled in and won the first Mae Young Classic.
On Saturday, WWE.com published the following regarding Io Shirai's signing to WWE.
WWE has announced that it has signed Io Shirai, one of the most decorated women’s wrestlers in the world, as its newest Superstar.
The announcement was made at today’s WWE Live Event at Tokyo’s Ryōgoku Sumo Hall, where Shirai was introduced to members of the WWE Universe as the newest signee to WWE NXT.
A ring veteran of more than 10 years, Shirai has accomplished more than virtually anyone in the modern history of Japanese women’s wrestlers. Tokyo Sports, a national daily sports newspaper, named her the country’s top female grappler in each of the past three years.
Boasting an exciting and technical in-ring style that combines speed and force, Shirai is renowned for her devastating strikes and suplexes. Nicknamed the “Genius of the Sky,” Shirai also packs a wide arsenal of high-flying moves, including an eye-popping Asai moonsault.
Shirai most recently competed with Tokyo-based World Wonder Ring Stardom, the same organization where NXT Superstar and inaugural Mae Young Classic winner Kairi Sane first made her name. A fixture of Stardom, Shirai was a multi-time champion there and enjoyed two reigns with the promotion’s top title, the World of Stardom Championship.
WWE also shared the following video on Instagram.
Also at the Tokyo event, Shinsuke Nakamura was not able to compete because he had been bitten by a bomb detecting police dog before his scheduled United States Championship match on Smackdown.
Fightful Wrestling will report on Shirai's progress as she moves to WWE.
