Goddamn that split
Called that neckbeard a bytch That had to hurt his pride
I been thinking about what they're gonna do with Io in the short-term while Rhea has her run as champion (which I don't see lasting for a super long reign, cuz they'll probably want to call Rhea up while she's still super hot, and they don't generally have long babyface runs with the belt anyway)
In the meantime I wouldn't be against a lil tag-team run with someone like Bianca while they feed Dakota etc to Rhea. Imagine Io x Bianca vs The Kabukis for the Women's tag belts on the undercard of a TakeOver. That shyt would be flames. Working with a GOAT-tier vet like Io would help bring Bianca up to that next level as an in-ring talent too. Everyone who teamed with Io in STARDOM became much better workers as a result, from Mayu Iwatani, to Kairi, to Hazuki, to Momo Watanable, to AZM, the list goes on and on.
Then you can eventually have Io get the belt after Rhea, Rhea gets called up, so you then have Io as champion defending against the likes of Bianca, Mia Yim, Toni Storm, Tegan Nox, Candice, Dakota Kai, Kay Lee Ray etc etc and she would be pretty much guaranteed to get a 4*+ TakeOver match out of any of the aforementioned.
The ultimate fantasy booking would be that it eventually leads to Asuka coming back to NXT on some Finn Balor shyt to challenge Io for the title in a dream match. That would be TakeOver main event worthy.
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Two of the top female WWE Superstars could be on their way out of the company if they choose a money offer from Bushiroad, the parent company of the STARDOM promotion.
As previously noted, Bushiroad director Takaaki Kidani told Tokyo Sports in November that he wants Kairi Sane and Io Shirai back and that a good money offer would be made to them. Bushiroad is putting more money into the promotion and signing Sane and Shirai would be a huge boost for them.
All of this was discussed on Saturday’s Wrestling Observer Radio. Dave Meltzer said Bushiroad wants to offer them a lot of money because the feeling is that they need superstars there.
Another interesting note is that Shirai is engaged to New Japan Pro Wrestling star Evil and Meltzer said that Shirai is not necessarily happy in the United States because she is away from her fiance.
Meltzer pointed out that WWE could pull some strings to tempt her to stay. He said, “Io may be moved to the main roster real quick to keep that from happening because then her pay goes way up because her pay in NXT is nothing special. I heard she was making more money [with STARDOM].” He noted that the STARDOM money was more because of the merchandise sales.
We’ll see what is next for them but what is clear is that Sane and Shirai are in a position to make a lot of money on their next contract. In addition to STARDOM and WWE, I would assume that other companies like AEW and ROH would love to have them and would offer them nice contracts if they are interested.