Photo: Io Shirai Apparently Dealing With An Injury
It appears Io Shirai is dealing with an injury. Earlier this week, a photo surfaced on social media of Shirai wearing walking boots and a leg brace.
Shirai has been off WWE TV since the NXT Stand & Deliver show earlier this month, where she was a part of a Fatal Four Way Match for the NXT Women's Title. Ultimately Shirai, Cora Jade and Alba Fyre (FKA Kay Lee Ray) came up short as champion Mandy Rose retained her title.
As seen below, Shirai was spotted celebrating Easter Sunday with fellow Japanese wrestlers such as Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroyo Matsumoto, and a fan on Reddit pointed out how she was in a leg brace. Another fan on Twitter shared a video clip of the spot that possibly led to Shiari's apparent injury.
There has been no confirmation from WWE or Shirai herself of any injury, but we'll keep you updated on the same.
Io Shirai worked two dark matches on SmackDown earlier this year, which led to speculation of her possible main roster call-up. However, there is no word yet on when Shirai will leave NXT.
Io appears to be in a boot and on crutches (see bottom right of first picture), makes sense why she wasn't called up and hasn't been on NXT 😔 pic.twitter.com/GjNspM1052
— Sean Slate (@slate_s42) April 19, 2022
Most likely the spot where the injury occurred. No clue why they decided to move the announce table so close to the ring. pic.twitter.com/SIDHzl2sfj
— Sean Slate (@slate_s42) April 19, 2022