Io Shirai was successful in her latest title defense of the NXT Women’s Title.
She did so at Sunday’s WWE NXT TakeOver 31 event when she pinned Candice LeRae.
The match was dominated by LeRae in the early going. Shirai managed to fight back and then they went right into the near fall spots. Shirai hit a moonsault off the top rope that saw LeRae put her knees up sending Shirai into the referee.
Johnny Gargano ran out to the ring with a referee t-shirt but the referee told him to get lost. LeRae hit Shirai with the title, but Shirai kicked out at 2. The finish saw Shirai hit a moonsault off the top rope.
After the match, Toni Storm appeared on the big screen to tell her that it’s Toni’s Time.
Then, the mystery person that had been featured in various video packages was revealed to be Ember Moon. She had a staredown with Shirai to end the segment.
There was a belief that the videos have been building towards the return of someone who was part of NXT several years ago such as a former NXT Champion.
Moon has been out of action since November 2019 with an achilles injury.
WWE set up this contest back on the September 23rd episode of NXT when they held a match that would determine who is next in line for a title shot.
A Battle Royal took place Shotzi Blackheart, Kacy Catanzaro, Indi Hartwell, Aliyah, Dakota Kai, LeRae, Rhea Ripley, Tegan Nox, Raquel Gonzalez, Kayden Carter, and Xia Li were the competitors. Obviously, LeRae won the match and earned this title opportunity.
