Report: Io Shirai To Sign With WWE; Last Match With STARDOM Scheduled
WWE is reportedly gaining another major player to their women's division.
According to Tokyo Sports, 28-year old Japanese pro wrestler Io Shirai is WWE bound. The article notes that Shirai will be leaving STARDOM where she has held a plethora of championships and won a handful of tournaments. Shirai has been with the promotion for nearly seven years and the Tokyo Sports article described her as a "treasure to the female professional wrestling world." Io is regarded by fans of the sport as one the best female professional wrestlers in the world and that has garnered her WWE's attention for a second time in two years. The President of STARDOM, Rossi Ogawa did not deny the report of Shirai's departure but instead stated that he will explain the situation in proper form in the future.
On Tuesday, Io Shirai tweeted a blog revealing she will be competing in her last STARDOM match on June 17th at Korakuen Hall.
In the fall of 2016 in an edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that both Io Shirai and Kairi Hojo (Sane) were offered WWE contracts and were going to begin their careers in the company in 2017. Last year Shirai did partake in a WWE tryout that was held at the Performance Center in Orlando. Three months after her tryout another report came by way of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that noted that WWE discovered a neck injury that Shirai had while reviewing her medical examination report which led to the sports-entertainment company eventually resending their contract offer.
