Table of Contents
Iyo Sky is indeed one of the biggest names in WWE right now, who has been active in the main roster of the promotion since 2022. She had been a two times World Champion and also defended the World Championship at WrestleMania twice. She is presently active on Monday Night RAW, and she is also one of the biggest stars for the promotion.
But during her early career in WWE, Iyo Sky worked under the ring name Io Shirai. She made her WWE debut back in 2018 as a participant in the Mae Young Classic tournament as Io Shirai, and she even reached the finals, where she was beaten by Tony Storm. She had been extremely impressive during her early appearances in WWE.
Iyo Sky and Io Shirai are different characters, claims the former champion
She started working in the NXT from the same year, and she was addressed as Io Shirai during her early career. She had been quite successful in the NXT as she won the NXT Women's Championship one time, and she even won the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship one time. She was one of the top stars of the NXT before making her main roster debut.
After she made her main roster debut in 2022, she started to be addressed as Iyo Sky and has become world famous under this ring name, as she stands as one of the top stars of WWE right now. But Sky believes that her present character in WWE is different from her Io Shirai character that she portrayed in the NXT. Speaking on the "INSIGHT" Podcast, she explained the following;
Iyo Sky is a two times World Champion, and she is active on Monday Night RAW right now
“So that’s interesting, because I was Io Shirai even in NXT. I thought when I joined WWE, I would get a new ring name, but WWE didn’t ask me, and I kept using Io Shirai. That makes me happy, but I was wondering [about it].
“Then I got called up to the main roster, then that time was SummerSlam 2022. So Hunter asked, because that time was I was injured, broken ankle, almost got cleared. And then Hunter called me. ‘Are you ready to go to Raw?’ And I totally didn’t expect that, he told me with Bayley and with Dakota Kai, because she was not working with WWE.
She was addressed as Io Shirai in the NXT
"That was makes me so happy, because Bayley, Dakota and me make a new unit, oh my gosh. Then he says, please think of something new for a ring name. Oh my gosh. I don’t have any time, because maybe that was only five days before SummerSlam.
“Io Sharai means purple thunder in Japanese. So that’s why I tried to think something when you’re hearing my name, you could imagine like a fire or like a water whatever, like a strong fist whatever. Sky, because if you hear me, if you hear Iyo Sky, you think of the sky, and you won’t forget my name. So that’s why I decided to put sky. IYO SKY, Io Sharai, both similar sounds.” said Sky.
