Two Injured WWE NXT Stars Reportedly Close To Return
According to Dave Meltzer in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, both Io Shirai and Zoey Stark are set to make their returns to "WWE NXT" relatively soon.
While no exact timeframe was provided for either woman, having them both back on the roster will no doubt be a back shot in the arm to the division. The duo have got plenty of history with each other in WWE, considering the fact they are former "NXT" Women's Tag Team Champions, but i's unclear as to whether they will be coming back to compete alongside each other once more, or as singles stars.
Shirai is a former "NXT" Women's Champion and was last seen challenging for the title in a fatal four-way at "NXT's" Stand And Deliver. Mandy Rose secured the victory on that night against Shirai, Kay Lee Ray (now known as Alba Fyre) and Cora Jade, which took place back in April during WWE WrestleMania weekend.
The details of Shirai's injury have not been revealed to this point, but she was pictured with her leg in a protective boot while celebrating Easter Sunday with Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroyo Matsumoto.
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
Stark has been out for even longer — her last match took place at NXT's Halloween Havoc event in 2021, where she teamed with Shirai in a triple threat "Scareway to Heaven" ladder match. The duo lost their titles that night to Toxic Attraction in a contest that also involved the team of Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta. The following episode of "WWE NXT 2.0" included an angle writing Stark off television by having Toxic Attraction attack her in the locker room, but she has been sidelined with a legitimate injury. Considering that Toxic Attraction are still holding those titles today, it could make sense for Stark and Shirai to reunite and get revenge, but that remains to be seen.