Io Shirai made her latest defense as WWE NXT Women’s Champion against Raquel Gonzalez at Wednesday’s (April 7, 2021) WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver.
The match featured an early attack by Io. When Dakota Kai attacked Io, she was ejected from ringside, and allowed Raquel to dominate. At one point, Shirai hit a dive off the skull, which was part of the stage. Raquel hit her finisher for the win.
On the March 14th edition of NXT, Shirai retained her NXT Women’s Championship against Toni Storm. Later that night, Shirai confronted Gonzalez and declared that she wanted to face Gonzalez next. The following week, Shirai told Raquel to sign a contract to make it happen, which she did.
This feud goes back to the NXT TakeOver: WarGames event where Gonzalez pinned Shirai to get the win in the women’s WarGames match as Gonzalez was part of Team Candice with Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai & Storm while Shirai was part of Team Shotzi with Shotzi Blackheart, Ember Moon & Rhea Ripley.
Shirai became the NXT Women’s Champion when she beat Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley in a triple threat match at TakeOver: In Your House in June of last year.
