WWE has signed away a pair of World Wonder Ring Stardom’s top wrestlers in Kairi Hojo and Io Shirai, who also happen to be regarded as two of the best professional wrestlers in existence today. Hojo is already at the WWE Performance Center and likely gearing up for a run in the Mae Young Classic, but the news and rumors of Shirai’s signing and/or potential debut have gone back and forth wildly over the past couple of months.
It now appears there’s a very good reason for that. Shirai may have a significant injury that she will need to rehab before starting on with WWE. On the June 25 edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer reported that a neck injury was discovered during the extensive new-hire WWE medical evaluation. Shirai is still expected to sign with the company, but it’ll take some time.
“She’s got a bad neck,” said Meltzer. “She was examined in Pittsburgh, and they found the neck injury. She’d gotten the neck injury in May, and she’d taken some time off … It was actually something the WWE found out, so she’ll be out for a while. She’s not going to be in WWE for a while. She’s still supposed to go. Hojo’s already there, but Shirai could be quite a while, actually.”
We obviously wish Shirai a speedy recovery, and are glad that she’ll be able to take some time to recuperate before starting with WWE. I suppose Asuka can breathe a sigh of relief for the time being. But keep your head on a swivel, Asuka. She might be in Full Sail sooner than you think.
