Io Shirai and Zoey Stark are expected to return to WWE NXT 2.0 soon.
A new report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that Stark and Shirai are both set to return to in-ring action “relatively soon,” but no timeframe was given.
Stark has not wrestled since she and Shirai dropped the NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles to Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne at NXT Halloween Havoc on October 26 of last year, in a Triple Threat Ladder Match that also included Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta. She was written out of the storylines the following week with a backstage attack.
It was later announced that she suffered a torn ACL/Meniscus. Stark underwent surgery in early November, and has been working hard at recovery ever since then. You can see her latest Instagram post below, which is from early May. She noted then that she was back to jumping rope, and onto the next phase of rehab.
Shirai has not wrestled since the NXT Stand & Deliver event during WrestleMania 38 Weekend. She worked the Fatal 4 Way that saw NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose retain her title, over Shirai, Cora Jade and Alba Fyre.
Shirai’s injury was never announced, but it was reported a few weeks back that she has been out with an undisclosed injury. The severity and nature of the injury have not been confirmed, but WWE officials have been hopeful that Shirai would be back for the summer. This new report from The Observer backs that timeline up.
There’s no word yet on if WWE will keep the Shirai – Stark storyline going when they return. They held the NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles for 111 days before dropping them to Toxic Attraction last fall.
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more. You can see the aforementioned Stark Instagram post below:
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