5 Burning questions about non-title holders in NXT

#1 Where does Io Shirai go once she's healthy?

The Genius of the Sky is currently sidelined with an injury.

The last time Io Shirai was on NXT TV was a week after the #1 Contender's Battle Royale for the NXT Women's Championship. In that episode, she tussled with Toni Storm in a match that ended in a no-contest. After that, Shirai revealed that she had "tweaked" her knee. Rumors also suggested that she would be out of action for two months. That would put her in line for a return either right before WrestleMania weekend or immediately following it.

I'm of the mind that when Shirai is 100% healthy, she should join SmackDown. The Blue brand needs a bit of a jolt to the roster as most of the competitors have battled each other and/or unsuccessfully challenged Bayley for the SmackDown Women's title. Bayley could also lose the title at the Show of Shows and that means several heels will be needed to challenge whoever dethrones the former Hugger. Shirai would add instant credibility and electricity to the blue brand's roster.

If she goes back to NXT, she'll likely go back into the same role as title challenger and main card act. She's done that for the past year and change and in that time, several other names have debuted (Santana Garrett, Shotzi Blackheart, Chelsea Green) as full-time stars. She could just slot back into the mix but the dynamic has been greatly changed with Rhea Ripley winning the title and Baszler seemingly moving on to RAW. Ripley has also battled Shirai, Belair and some others many times.

My hope is that Shirai debuts on SmackDown after the Show of Shows because she's more than ready to bring her style and awesome character to the main roster. Returns and debuts always take place following the PPV and her name is one that makes sense as a member of either RAW or SmackDown.