IYO SKY suffered an injury in April 2022 that kept her sidelined until she made her return at WWE SummerSlam 2022, linking up with Bayley & Dakota Kai to form Damage CTRL.
At the time of her injury, it was rumored that SKY's contract was coming to an end and she might be leaving WWE.
Speaking to Tokyo Sports (via DeepL translator), SKY gave more insight into her injury and contract situation.
"I don't know if it was because I was in such a mental state, but the bone in my (right) heel called the talus was broken. It was the first time I broke a bone in wrestling, and the first time I had surgery for a wrestling injury. I still have a bolt in my ankle," she said.
When asked if she was planning on returning to Japan, SKY replied, "I thought about it. It wasn't that I didn't like America, but that if there was nothing I could do here, I thought that if I went to Japan, there would be more things I could do. The situation of Stardom where I used to be has changed, and I have grown a lot since I left Japan, so I was confident that I could show a different kind of work in Japan this time."
Finally, SKY was asked what made her decide to stay in WWE. She replied, "It was my policy not to give up. In the U.S., I could have approached them and said, 'I want to end the contract.' But I didn't want to do that, so I set a goal to work hard until the contract was over, and I stayed on for almost a year. I appeared at the "SummerSlam" (in August 2022) when my contract was about to end in one month."
One year after returning to television at SummerSlam 2022, IYO SKY won the WWE Women's Championship at WWE SummerSlam 2023, cashing in her Money in the Bank briefcase.
SKY is set to defend her title against Asuka on the September 22 episode of WWE SmackDown.
