Io Shirai remaining in STARDOM

Oedo Corps

A couple of days ago, Io Shirai announced on her blog that her doctor has cleared her to return to the ring. She will return on Aug. 13. Of course the big question is she still coming to the WWE. We got the answer on Sunday's Shin-kiba 1st Ring show. She's staying in STARDOM. The main event was a three way tag team match featuring the heel group Oedo Corps led by Viper. After they won, Io came out and joined them. STARDOM has been turning Io heel for a while. That means she's staying. It's doubtful that she would have passed a WWE physical anyway. Getting cleared in Japan is different from getting cleared by the WWE. This is why I was concerned about Kairi Sane getting cleared because of her concussion history. And sure enough, she's already suffered a concussion. That's her third one. And that's the problem with Io. Eventually she will need surgery. And it's understandable the WWE doesn't want that on their watch. Fans have asked me about what will happen after the Mae Young Classic. Unlike the Cruiserweight Classic, I don't expect a weekly show. And that's why most of the Cruiserweights were offered contracts. Because the Mae Young Classic is likely to be a one off event, the WWE didn't offer any new contracts at the taping. If they were to sign all 32 wrestlers, what would they do with all of them? I do expect one major PPV angle to come out of the tournament. I won't say what it is because I never post spoilers on the blog. Other than that, it should be a fun show but a one shot deal for most of the wrestlers. I'm not surprised because I have never believed the WWE's commitment to women's wrestling is as strong as they would like you to think because they still hire pretty girls who can't wrestle like Lana and Carmella. I'll believe them when they stop doing that. I don't expect that to ever happen. The one good thing is with Io remaining in STARDOM, they aren't as weak as they could be if she left. They need a good rival for her and right now they don't have one. Remember Mayu Iwatani retires at the end of this year. That's a problem that needs to be solved sooner rather than later.