WWE: A case for Io Shirai being the next NXT Women’s Champion

This week, Io Shirai returned to WWE NXT to join the upcoming number one contender’s Ladder Match. Not only should she win, but she should win the title.

This past Wednesday, Io Shirai returned to WWE TV after being on the shelf since suffering a knee injury during a Jan. 22 match against Toni Storm on NXT. This week, she made a surprise appearance to defeat Aliyah to earn entry into the upcoming number one contender’s Ladder Match, where the winner will get a future title match against the NXT Women’s Champion.

Although Shirai’s win took place inside of an empty arena, the positive response to Shirai’s return to the ring was overwhelming on social media to the point that it’s not hard to imagine her coming back to a huge pop under better circumstances.

Io Shirai’s road through NXT up to this point is an interesting one to look back on when we consider it in totality. Amassed to a wealth of hype from her STARDOM days, Shirai was beloved by the die hard fans at Full Sail the moment she stepped through the curtain in 2018.

Since then, in two years time, her chase towards gold has become increasingly difficult for The Genius of the Sky. Her momentum was hurt after not one, but two title matches losses to then-champion Shayna Baszler, which ultimately resulted in Shirai turning heel.

Miraculously, her newly hot tempered attitude laced with a darker attire marching down to Poppy’s orchestra only endeared her even more to the Full Sail crowd. Unfortunately, the more popular she got, it seemed she inched further away from the title picture.

Mind you, she was still at the forefront of the women’s division thanks to feuds with the likes of Candice LeRae and especially WarGames where Shirai arguably stole the show, but when women like Rhea Ripley, Mia Yim and even the aforementioned LeRae were the ones getting title matches, we were all aimlessly looking for Shirai in the background.

Shirai seemed far away from getting another title match and even further once she suffered her injury. But now is the perfect opportunity to restore prominence to the name of Io Shirai.

It’s been a long, antagonizing journey for her fans to sit through, but it all ought to pay off when Shirai not only becomes the number one contender, but wins the NXT Women’s Championship (preferably from Rhea Ripley, who teased a feud with Shirai prior to even winning the title).

A title win could be a fresh start for Io Shirai. An argument could be made that a fresh start could also happen with a move to Raw or SmackDown, but given her journey thus far, her NXT run would feel incomplete without a title win to cap off such a run in style.

The road to glory has been paved with setbacks for Io Shirai, but it’ll all be worth it when she finally raises the NXT Women’s Championship above her head.