WWE: 5 potential dream matches for Io Shirai

4. Ronda Rousey

This one depends on how well WWE pushes Shirai once she reaches the main roster (a strong push in NXT is all but guaranteed). If the main roster creative team portrays Shirai as the world-beater that she is, then a match between her and Ronda Rousey is inevitable.

Despite having only three matches to her name, Rousey has acclimated to pro wrestling far quicker than anyone anticipated. The in-ring skills of her first two opponents make Rousey’s efforts look even more impressive; Nia Jax and Stephanie McMahon are far from the best workers, so the fact that Rousey turned in two memorable performances with both women says a lot, no matter how much planning went into it.

If Rousey could do that with a couple of unheralded wrestlers, imagine the matches she could have with a talent the caliber of Shirai.

Rousey still has to improve on the microphone, but she is a legitimate star and I’m past the point of worrying about how good or bad her matches will be (feel free to make me eat crow if she and Alexa Bliss have a stinker at SummerSlam). She’s still green, but I can count on one hand the number of ho-hum workers WWE has on their women’s roster. Rousey will work with a quality wrestler more often than not, and if she continues at her current trajectory, she won’t be too far behind her contemporaries in terms of wrestling acumen.

As it stands, Rousey is a box office attraction, so a properly booked Shirai could have a memorable showdown match with her.