Report: Io Shirai Could Be Moved To WWE Main Roster To Keep Her From Leaving

Since signing with WWE in 2018, Io Shirai has competed for the NXT Women's Championship at two TakeOver shows, faced Candice LeRae in a high profile bout at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, and took part in the first-ever women's WarGames match.

She may not appear in NXT for much longer, however, as according to Dave Meltzer, Shirai is unhappy in WWE and could head back to Stardom. The promotion is reportedly trying to re-sign their former World champion as Bushiroad wants to expand Stardom's presence in Japan. To prevent this from happening, Meltzer believes WWE will move Shirai to the main roster as this will allow her to earn more money. Shirai earned more in Japan than she currently does in NXT, therefore WWE will be looking to provide an incentive for her to remain with the company.

Meltzer said: "It’s a big year for them (Stardom) because there’s going to be a lot of marketing put into that company by Bushiroad, they’re going to try and run bigger shows. I think it’s really important for them to sign someone like Io Shirai, someone who’s a real star. I mean that’s the goal to bring her and Kairi Sane back and they’re superstars, plus them being in WWE that would also be part of the deal. Bushiroad wants to offer them both a lot of money because they feel like they need superstars there and Io’s fiance (EVIL) is here so she’s not necessarily happy over there…Io may be moved to the main roster real quick to keep that from happening and then her pay goes way up because her pay in NXT is nothing special, I heard she was making more money here than there and she was working less dates with Stardom"