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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2022 8:45:11 GMT -5
A question that really should not have ever been a question in the first place but somehow here we are.
300 day reign as NXT womens champion
Won the NXT womens tag titles
Won the Dusty cup
Been in every single womens war games match thus far
Been at the top of the mountain and has put on countless bangers in NXT with pretty much every woman and now we find ourselves with a question of what does she do next.
The obvious is get called up but according to what some have reported there is no interest in calling her up.
And she does not look to be any sort of priority for NXT anymore.
So is the best thing for her to do is leave? because seems the only option at this point and I know fans of every other company with a half way decent womens division right now is YES PLEASE LEAVE SO WE CAN HAVE YOU INSTEAD lol.
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Post by Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! on Apr 13, 2022 8:50:11 GMT -5
I hate to say it but yeah the best thing for her to do is probably to leave. I have no faith in WWE using her right if she got called to the main roster, definitely not with Ace and Prichard in Vince's ear with one hand stuffed crassly down the front of their pants
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Post by "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik on Apr 13, 2022 8:51:36 GMT -5
I literally just don't understand what issue Vince has with calling her up. Unlike the men, it's not as if she needs to be a certain height or something. She's attractive. She's a good worker. She has plenty of personality. It doesn't seem like they're biased against Japanese female talent with how they've booked Asuka and Kairi. They at least called up another Asian woman in Xia and gave her vignettes and a cool entrance. Sure the follow up to Xia has sucked but at least they brought her up and tried something. They clearly need more talent on the main roster. It just makes no sense to me. She checks all the boxes.
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Apr 13, 2022 8:52:50 GMT -5
I think it’s reasonable to say that she should be in a singles titles mix somewhere. RAW, SmackDown, AEW, whatever, on the same level as the top stars.
I just don’t think it should literally be at the point of “She needs to be literally invincible and never look weak or lose ever”. That’s honestly what it comes off like sometimes given that we have some very vocal posters with some very strong support for Shirai.
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Post by mistery on Apr 13, 2022 9:04:09 GMT -5
I literally just don't understand what issue Vince has with calling her up. Unlike the men, it's not as if she needs to be a certain height or something. She's attractive. She's a good worker. She has plenty of personality. It doesn't seem like they're biased against Japanese female talent with how they've booked Asuka and Kairi. They at least called up another Asian woman in Xia and gave her vignettes and a cool entrance. Sure the follow up to Xia has sucked but at least they brought her up and tried something. They clearly need more talent on the main roster. It just makes no sense to me. She checks all the boxes. They only called up Xia Li because WWE somehow thinks China is an untapped market that will have a ton of wrestling fans. Even though every single wrestling promotion that has worked/started there has either went belly-up, or not made any sort of impact at all. Because of how businesses operate there, it's not a market you will be able to break into. On top of wrestling in China being super niche at best. Also I would argue Kairi was booked insanely weak if you look at the big picture. She never got a singles run on the main roster, pretty much always being Asuka's pin eater at the time. And as for Io, they probably aren't calling her up because of one of several reasons: - She's the only woman who can actually draw in viewers for NXT (although considering they geeked her out to Mandy, that probably isn't the case anymore)
- Bruce Pritchard openly dislikes Asian women. Paige alluded to it on a Twitch stream, but mentioned Bruce was actively pushing to keep the Kabuki Warriors held down on Smackdown when they debuted, because "Asuka and Kairi were too exotic and would never get over"
- This is the most out there reason, but also not unlikely because its WWE: They don't want Io overshadowing Charlotte, Ronda, or their other chosen ones.
Realistically, Io should be in the main event mix on RAW or Smackdown, but they clearly don't see her as a priority. And likely never will unless she gets some sort of massive crowd movement on the level of the Daniel Bryan or Becky Lynch level. Which won't happen because WWE is making sure this time to hold her down by not giving her exposure. There's a reason why all of the big women in interviews now only talk about Rhea, Bianca, and Raquel as the future of the company. And the future after them are a bunch of failed athletes and influencers because Johnny Ace is back in charge.
I think it’s reasonable to say that she should be in a singles titles mix somewhere. RAW, SmackDown, AEW, whatever, on the same level as the top stars. I just don’t think it should literally be at the point of “She needs to be literally invincible and never look weak or lose ever”. That’s honestly what it comes off like sometimes given that we have some very vocal posters with some very strong support for Shirai. I think there's a fine line between being invincible and looking like an idiot. And the way they've handled her ever since she lost the title has been nothing short of a travesty. It doesn't help that WWE is going all in on Toxic Attraction despite the growing negativity towards them, and them being ratings poison at this point. Or the fact that they are trying to push Cora Jade as the top female babyface on NXT despite overwhelming audience rejection. I'm kinda at the point where Io just needs to leave the company and either go back to STARDOM (although this isn't likely), or go to AEW and force Tony's hand in elevating the women there. Because it's blatantly obvious WWE doesn't like or respect Io these days. Especially with how much they are actively trying to downplay her now. |
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Post by Final Countdown Jones on Apr 13, 2022 9:06:22 GMT -5
Having one of the best women in the world in your developmental feeder program made kind of sense when NXT was that in name only. If she's taking the pin in multi-woman matches in real developmental then that's. That's a problem. Maybe people are vouching for her. Maybe it's a thing where no matter how talented she is the best she'll get in WWE is being used to proc a minor ratings bump for a TV show trending real low and not getting better, but in WWE's mind it's better that she's in a minor role on their TV than a star somewhere else. Maybe Triple H keeps threatening Vince with a knife when the idea of firing her is brought up. It's really hard to say because it's tough to see a parallel. Io is on a level so much higher and she could be doing so much on actual television, but as they keep calling up more developmental products that Io is objectively better than in every way, it's really hard to think they're ever going to gdo something with her.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2022 9:19:58 GMT -5
Having one of the best women in the world in your developmental feeder program made kind of sense when NXT was that in name only. If she's taking the pin in multi-woman matches in real developmental then that's. That's a problem. Maybe people are vouching for her. Maybe it's a thing where no matter how talented she is the best she'll get in WWE is being used to proc a minor ratings bump for a TV show trending real low and not getting better, but in WWE's mind it's better that she's in a minor role on their TV than a star somewhere else. Maybe Triple H keeps threatening Vince with a knife when the idea of firing her is brought up. It's really hard to say because it's tough to see a parallel. Io is on a level so much higher and she could be doing so much on actual television, but as they keep calling up more developmental products that Io is objectively better than in every way, it's really hard to think they're ever going to gdo something with her. And that is what both baffles me and lets me know this is intentional. Shotzi Xia Aliyah for f*** sakes Just as examples all called up (who should still be in NXT IMO) before Io and now Raquel called up before Io. But yet IMO the best womens wrestler of her generation is bench warming at best in their developmental league for whats going on 5yrs now is insane to me. |
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Post by sunnytaker on Apr 13, 2022 9:20:12 GMT -5
i have no faith in wwe using Io well on the main roster. someone will see "genius of the sky" and say "hey let's give her a weatherwoman gimmick and she can tell everyone what the weather will be at the show's location before she comes out to her matches!" just like the yacht enthusiast Kairi.
i think she's reach of the peak of what she will be able to do in wwe unfortunately. at best she'd get the asuka treatment where she is also presented as just below the 4HW and whoever else happens to be getting the big push at the time (to be fed to the horsewomen later of course), and only given the title when they have no other choice.
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Apr 13, 2022 9:36:40 GMT -5
What's weird to me is that, statistically, Shirai has been one of the most protected talents in the whole company since she debuted. Since her first appearances for the Mae Young Classic in 2018, she's only been pinned or submitted seven times out of 70 televised matches (45-23-2).
1. Lost Mae Young Classic final to Toni Storm (Evolution 10/28/2018)
2. Lost to Sonya Deville (Worlds Collide at WM Axxess 4/24/2019)
3. Lost NXT Women's Championship match to Shayna Baszler (Takeover XXV 6/1/2019)
4. Lost to Charlotte Flair/Chelsea Green (NXT 5/27/2020)
5. Lost WarGames to Raquel Gonzalez (Takeover WarGames IV 12/6/2020)
6. Lost NXT Women's Championship to Raquel Gonzalez (Takeover Stand And Deliver 4/7/2021)
7. Lost NXT Women's Championship match to Mandy Rose (Stand And Deliver 4/2/2022)
Just... do something with her, either put her on TV or let her go, f***.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2022 9:47:14 GMT -5
What's weird to me is that, statistically, Shirai has been one of the most protected talents in the whole company since she debuted. Since her first appearances for the Mae Young Classic in 2018, she's only been pinned or submitted seven times out of 70 televised matches (45-23-2). Just... do something with her, either put her on TV or let her go, f***.That is the core of this issue for me , not about whether she wins or loses (have preference of course) but just do SOMETHING meaningful with her or just let her go. But this is surely a case where the likes of HHH know exactly what they are giving up if she walks and they absoloutley do not want her wrestling for their chief rival because it is exactly where she would go and Tony Khan may be not doing all well with his female talents right now (from just reading the general talk) but there is no doubt he backs the brinks truck up for her if she walks away from WWE because every single talent there would be in his f***ing ear about her and rightfully so. |
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Post by mistery on Apr 13, 2022 9:47:57 GMT -5
What's weird to me is that, statistically, Shirai has been one of the most protected talents in the whole company since she debuted. Since her first appearances for the Mae Young Classic in 2018, she's only been pinned or submitted seven times out of 70 televised matches (45-23-2). 1. Lost Mae Young Classic final to Toni Storm (Evolution 10/28/2018) 2. Lost to Sonya Deville (Worlds Collide at WM Axxess 4/24/2019) 3. Lost NXT Women's Championship match to Shayna Baszler (Takeover XXV 6/1/2019) 4. Lost to Charlotte Flair/Chelsea Green (NXT 5/27/2020) 5. Lost WarGames to Raquel Gonzalez (Takeover WarGames IV 12/6/2020) 6. Lost NXT Women's Championship to Raquel Gonzalez (Takeover Stand And Deliver 4/7/2021) 7. Lost NXT Women's Championship match to Mandy Rose (Stand And Deliver 4/2/2022) Just... do something with her, either put her on TV or let her go, f***. We all know the main roster doesn't care about wins/losses. Especially Vince, Bruce, and Johnny. And even moreso when it comes to the women. And the fact that they refuse to put Io on TV in any shape or form makes me think they realize that she could easily become a big star and threaten who WWE wants people to see as the top stars. Which are Charlotte, Ronda, Bianca, and Becky currently. With Rhea not far behind. They especially won't put Io on Smackdown (or feature her at all to be honest) because that would instantly make her a top star in the eyes of fans because she has more charisma than both Charlotte and Ronda combined, and is better in the ring than both of them combined. And her only notable downside is her English. And even then audiences would likely tolerate it opposed to Ronda and Charlotte promos. And I'm getting there with Bianca promos as well since she just recites the same exact garbage every week now. |
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Totorob101
Hank Scorpio
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Post by Totorob101 on Apr 13, 2022 10:18:49 GMT -5
The best thing they can do for her is to let her go because she doesn't belong there,she's far to good for nxt and far to good to be wasted in the main roster so a mutual parting of the ways would suit both parties.
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nisidhe
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Post by nisidhe on Apr 13, 2022 11:12:15 GMT -5
Io Shirai is too good for WWE, period. Whatever Tony's issues with booking an effective women's division, though, I'm certain they could be resolved quickly with more and better talent coming in and tearing the house down consistently. The market is there, for sure.
It boggles my mind, though, the extent to which it is clear that Asian wrestlers (and, one can argue, Japanese-trained wrestlers) have been getting very short shrift in WWE, but how this issue is not being called out. Outside of Asuka (and she's on the DL), there has been a woeful lack of Asian talent coming up from NXT and the only other Japanese talent on the main roster, Akira Tozawa, is a comedic jobber chasing for the 24/7 title. What are fans to make of this?
If the issue is with Bruce Prichard, it stands to reason his value to the company needs to be re-evaluated because it's not a good look for the company to be keeping one of its top talents in developmental just because he "doesn't like Asians."
EDIT: Holy shit! How could I have forgotten Nakamura?! Well, considering how he's been booked until very recently, my point kinda still stands.
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Post by mistery on Apr 13, 2022 11:43:23 GMT -5
Io Shirai is too good for WWE, period. Whatever Tony's issues with booking an effective women's division, though, I'm certain they could be resolved quickly with more and better talent coming in and tearing the house down consistently. The market is there, for sure. It boggles my mind, though, the extent to which it is clear that Asian wrestlers (and, one can argue, Japanese-trained wrestlers) have been getting very short shrift in WWE, but how this issue is not being called out. Outside of Asuka (and she's on the DL), there has been a woeful lack of Asian talent coming up from NXT and the only other Japanese talent on the main roster, Akira Tozawa, is a comedic jobber chasing for the 24/7 title. What are fans to make of this? If the issue is with Bruce Prichard, it stands to reason his value to the company needs to be re-evaluated because it's not a good look for the company to be keeping one of its top talents in developmental just because he "doesn't like Asians." The problem is that people HAVE called WWE out for it before but then you have WWE fans saying WWE isn't racist because they pushed Asuka. |
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Post by S-Chrome on Apr 13, 2022 12:32:53 GMT -5
[li]Bruce Pritchard openly dislikes Asian women. Paige alluded to it on a Twitch stream, but mentioned Bruce was actively pushing to keep the Kabuki Warriors held down on Smackdown when they debuted, because "Asuka and Kairi were too exotic and would never get over" Excuse me, but, what the f***? That's pretty insane. I don't think there's any question that Io can get over on her skills alone. Since they're so dead-set on having Charlotte be the be-all, end-all of a women's division until Queendom Come, why not bring up Io as the next contender after Rousey feud is over with? I mean, it's not like anyone else on SmackDown hasn't feuded with Charlotte a dozen times prior, right? She'd be a top asset to either RAW or SmackDown (or particularly AEW), so I don't understand the issue here. But then again, logic and WWE don't often go together over the last 5-7 years anyway. |
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Post by Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! on Apr 13, 2022 13:25:49 GMT -5
Bruce Prichard is a dumb out of touch Racist
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2022 13:31:36 GMT -5
 The writing was pretty much on the wall for Io in this company once they pulled this shit. |
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Post by mistery on Apr 13, 2022 13:32:47 GMT -5
I mean it shouldn't shock you. Do remember that when the Kabuki Warriors were on Smackdown they were treated like massive jokes who couldn't even beat Peyton and Billie clean (while every other women's tag team could). But once they moved to RAW under Heyman's guidance, they became much bigger threats and shockingly (not really) got massively over with fans. And once Bruce took over RAW, their stock fell dramatically again. The only reason Asuka got the RAW Women's Title in the first place was because of Becky apparently, and then Vince likes her as well. The writing was pretty much on the wall for Io in this company once they pulled this shit. Yeah it was pretty much over for Io when you had commentary screaming about how Raquel saved the division and how these three women are the future of the company while implying Io did nothing but harm women's wrestling. And now maybe people will realize why Io (or joshi fans in general) fans are pretty much always angry at WWE. It's because there's an underlying tone of racism in their booking of Asian talents. They can push Latin, African American, and Caucasian talents perfectly fine, but god forbid they push an Asian man or woman as an actual serious competitor with meaningful storylines and featuring them on advertising. And maybe even sending them out to do media interviews, even if its with a translator! |
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Mecca
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Post by Mecca on Apr 13, 2022 13:49:42 GMT -5
In the last couple of years the WWE has heavily shifted away from caring about ring work or international stardom. I wouldn't be surprised if IO is used to put over people like Cora Jade and Zoey Stark.
They're using veteran ring workers to get green projects over.
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Post by mistery on Apr 13, 2022 13:56:29 GMT -5
In the last couple of years the WWE has heavily shifted away from caring about ring work or international stardom. I wouldn't be surprised if IO is used to put over people like Cora Jade and Zoey Stark. They're using veteran ring workers to get green projects over. The problem is that Cora and Zoey aren't going to get over from it. It will just make fans resent them. And for WWE, a company that likes to claim it has a wide diverse range of performers (at a diversity level), they sure don't act like it. |
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