Kairi Hojo to WWE, Io Shirai staying in Japan (pg7 update)

[Crappler El 0 M]

report: Io Shirai has signed. This is nuts. She's one of the greatest in the business. Man or woman.
www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/io-shirai-accepts-offer-join-wwe-235591?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[froggyfrog]

May 15, 2017 19:07:58 GMT -5 Crappler El 0 M said:

report: Io Shirai has signed. This is nuts. She's probably the greatest in the business. Man or woman.
www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/io-shirai-accepts-offer-join-wwe-235591?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

#blessed

[Deleted]

Poor Stardom....push Konami to the moon now is what they really have no choice but to do.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

I need Io debuting at Chicago and scaring the absolute shit out of Asuka...

[Deleted]

I am now hearing this is infact NOT a done deal and all that is happening is that she has been invited back to the performance centre to talk with the agents with the hopes they can definitively sign her.

[AwamoriRock]

Io dethroning Asuka would be amazing in both kayfabe and otherwise Talk your shit now Asuka! Lol

[Deleted]

I only know these ladies from their work on Lucha Underground, but it seems like WWE made some pretty great additions to its ever growing stable of incredibly talented women.

[Steveweiser]

It would be a while yet before Io comes in. Kairi just dropped her title, and leaves at the end of the month.

[________ has left the building]

May 15, 2017 23:48:04 GMT -5 AwamoriRock said:

Io dethroning Asuka would be amazing in both kayfabe and otherwise Talk your shit now Asuka! Lol

I would mark out like Matt Striker if that happened.

[________ has left the building]

May 15, 2017 19:21:04 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

Poor Stardom....push Konami to the moon now is what they really have no choice but to do.

Jungle Kyona is the most ready of Rossy's young girl army. Honestly thought she would had been the one to beat Hojo for the white belt.

[MrElijah]

May 15, 2017 19:21:04 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

Poor Stardom....push Konami to the moon now is what they really have no choice but to do.

Is her finisher called Vampire Killer or Metal Gear?


Also whats Io and Asuka's heat? And is it bad?

[Crappler El 0 M]

May 16, 2017 11:24:54 GMT -5 MrElijah said:

May 15, 2017 19:21:04 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

Poor Stardom....push Konami to the moon now is what they really have no choice but to do.

Is her finisher called Vampire Killer or Metal Gear?


Also whats Io and Asuka's heat? And is it bad?

I heard that Kana (Asuka) reached out and settled the beef, but there was some heat between them when Io Shirai signed with Stardom, leaving the freelance 'Triple Tails' group which comprised of Io, Kana, and Io's sister Mio Shirai.

[AwamoriRock]

Io just Tweeted that she has an announcement to make after a Stardom press conference today.

edit: She says it's a positive announcement and to not worry, though, so who really knows lol

[________ has left the building]

Jun 14, 2017 23:53:50 GMT -5 AwamoriRock said:

Io just Tweeted that she has an announcement to make after a Stardom press conference today.

edit: She says it's a positive announcement and to not worry, though, so who really knows lol

"I'm taking my talent to the Florida Loop."

[Steveweiser]

Io vs. Mayu Iwatani is happening soon, so I'd expect Mayu to win the title there (adding the red belt to her white belt she just got off Kairi Hojo). Risky for STARDOM putting everything behind one person rather than spreading out like they have before, but no-one else who's regular is ready. You could argue Toni Storm, but she goes back to the UK regularly, and could easily end up in the Mae Young Classic herself.

[________ has left the building]

Jun 15, 2017 7:37:13 GMT -5 Steveweiser said:

Io vs. Mayu Iwatani is happening soon, so I'd expect Mayu to win the title there (adding the red belt to her white belt she just got off Kairi Hojo). Risky for STARDOM putting everything behind one person rather than spreading out like they have before, but no-one else who's regular is ready. You could argue Toni Storm, but she goes back to the UK regularly, and could easily end up in the Mae Young Classic herself.

Mayu called off her retirement plans because she finally getting the role of Ace. HZK is the heir apparent going by how she got booked.

[Steveweiser]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Shirai lost the World of Stardom Title to Mayu Iwatani yesterday...

Another Io Shirai update, which could well be cover...

[Mecca]

I'm assuming it's a cover because the WWE doesn't allow talent to say anything about signing until they've announced it.

[Mecca]

This is taken from another forum it's observer blurbs about this entire situation.



In following in the recent tradition of everyone we praise internationally getting the phone call, both Io Shirai and Kairi Hojo have gotten offers to start in WWE in 2017 in the last week or two. Both told Stardom management about it this week. Shirai said she was going, and said that she was called by Shoichi Funaki. Hojo was contacted by Shinsuke Nakamura and Simon Inoki. Hojo at first didn’t make a final decision and there is some question if she can pass the physical because she’s had two major concussions in the last two years. In July, when WWE ran at Sumo Hall, Hojo was introduced to Nakamura through Simon Inoki, who knew her because they had worked together when Hojo did an IGF tour. Nakamura pushed to Hojo that she’d do great in WWE. Hojo most recently told the Stardom office that she’s interested in going to WWE. Stardom officials believe Shirai is gone for sure, but they are working to keep Hojo and Hojo then said she’s not sure what she’s going to do.

There is a belief that Hojo doesn’t want to go to WWE so much as prove she’s better than Shirai. Among the fans, Hojo has always been No. 2 to Shirai because Shirai is considered the better wrestler of the two, even their hardcore Stardom fans like Hojo more. It’s been pushed to Hojo that if she stays, she’ll be the No. 1 female wrestler in Japan, but if she goes to WWE, that will never happen, and that because Shirai is the “bigger star” and better looking in WWE’s eyes along with being a better wrestler, that she would never surpass her going there. A big part of this also is the marketing success of Asuka, as the prior mentality that American fans would never care for Japanese women workers (and for a long time the belief was the same regarding men, even after Great Muta became a big star in 1989, because nobody from Japan had become a top star in WWE) no matter how great they are in the ring has had to die when she got over. Plus there’s the reality of Asuka’s age (she just turned 35 and Vince has age-phobia on guys, so imagine the mentality on women and you can pretty much see it given Asuka is the oldest woman wrestler in the promotion) while Shirai is 26 and Hojo is 28. The one thing about them that people who see them against each other or with the other Japanese women don’t realize is they are really short, both about 5-foot-1.

10/31/16 Issue - which seems to be the first issue this came up.

Speaking of women, it now looks like Kairi Hojo is coming with Io Shirai. Stardom knew last week that Shirai was leaving and Hojo was on the verge, and was pushing for Hojo to stay noting she'd be their top star. Right now both are scheduled to stay with Stardom through about April of next year. Shirai will have her 10th anniversary big show on 3/20 at Korakuen Hall and that will be her last major event. Hojo will have a homecoming show in April and then also probably be leaving, although Stardom is trying to convince her to stay because losing one won't be so bad but losing both will be devastating, in particular because they have nobody at their level to elevate to take their places. The promotions' big three of late have been those two and Mayu Iwatani.

11/7/16 Issue

Kairi Hojo of Stardom has agreed to a three-year contract. She’s a great wrestler who was one of the women on the Lucha Underground show against Pentagon Dark earlier this season. Nakamura has been pushing for her to come to NXT for several months, since before we originally reported her getting an offer. She had told Stardom officials that she had turned down the offer and was staying with them. She just told the promotion now that she was leaving and wanted to leave in April. She’s got two titles and Stardom wants to her drop the titles before she leaves. The company felt they were misled by Hojo through all this. Io Shirai, the company’s top star, was more up front about her situation. She’s also reconsidered coming and said that she will be going to Orlando later this month but would not be working any shows over Mania weekend. This is a gigantic blow to Stardom, because they were probably the top two Japanese stars with the group and the key players why Stardom has been viewed as Japan’s top women’s wrestling promotion. Plus the third biggest star from the promotion, Mayu Iwatani, wants to retire before the end of the year. Iwatani was originally booked to win the World of Stardom title from Shirai in December, but the finish was changed to Shirai keeping the belt when Iwatani told the promotion that she wanted to retire in 2017 and Shirai decided she was going to stay. Shirai and Meiko Satomura are generally considered the two best woman wrestlers in the world right now. This would replenish NXT’s women’s division that has really been just Asuka, to a degree Ember Moon, and a bunch of women who aren’t anywhere near that level

03/13/17 Issue



Kairi Hojo, real name Kaori Housako, officially announced at the 5/6 Stardom show that she is leaving the promotion. She never mentioned going to WWE, as nobody is allowed to say anything until WWE announces it first, but she signed a three-year contract in March for $60,000 per year. One of the things that made it tough for Stardom is that she was earning more than that in Japan, her home country, and in a position to be a guaranteed star and to have the matches she wanted to have, but the lure of WWE as the major league still got her to leave

Io Shirai hasn’t signed yet and her coming to Orlando in late March to the Performance Center as WWE recruiting didn’t go swimmingly from her standpoint. Shirai is Stardom’s biggest star and Hojo was No. 2. Stardom would be able to survive losing one, but losing both, particularly if Mayu Iwatani also retires, would be devastating. Asuka, then known as Kana, was the top star of Japanese womens wrestling before Shirai and Hojo. Hojo is an excellent worker and is 28 years old, but smaller than most of the WWE women. She competed in the sport of Yachting at a high level while in college and was an Olympic hopeful in that sport. After college, she was working as an actress. She did a play where her role was to be a heel woman wrestler and a Stardom official saw the play and invited her to come to a show. She saw the atmosphere and immediately wanted to become a wrestler in 2011 and debuted on January 7, 2012

05/15/17 Issue



Kairi Hojo, one of the elite woman wrestlers in the world, who signed with WWE in March, but had personally kept it quiet, should be reporting to the Performance Center shortly.

Hojo, real name Kaori Housako, 28, announced at Saturday's Stardom show that she is leaving the promotion. She never mentioned WWE, because talent is not allowed to mention they are going to WWE until WWE announces it first.

We had reported Hojo's negotiations and signing as the story was playing out from last year. WWE was after both Hojo and Stardom's top star, Io Shirai. Shirai was brought to Orlando not that long ago to train, which was not supposed to go public but due to a communications issue, was briefly mentioned on the WWE website.

Shirai hasn't signed with WWE at this point.

Hojo has wrestled for just over five years and was an Olympic hopeful in yachting before getting into pro wrestling. She had worked a few shows for Lucha Underground but was not under contract with the promotion.

[Kalmia]

I like how the Observer's report of the situation starts with "Shirai is definitely going, Hojo might not" and eventually gets to "Hojo is definitely going, not sure about Shirai yet"