5 stars from NXT who can replace the recent WWE releases on RAW & SmackDown

#3 Former NXT Women's Champion Io Shirai

Io Shirai celebrates her NXT Women's Championship win at TakeOver: In Your House

The former NXT Women's Champion has some stiff competition with the likes of Britt Baker, Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch but there really is more than enough compelling evidence, both in her matches for WWE and her work beforehand, to support the claim that Io Shirai is the best women's wrestler on the planet right now.

She 𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒔 the sky. ☁️#NXTTakeOver @shirai_io @RheaRipley_WWE @MsCharlotteWWE pic.twitter.com/SzFgPE1wU9

— WWE (@WWE) June 8, 2020

Plus, she recently dropped the NXT Women's Title to Raquel Gonzalez so she's free to move to RAW or SmackDown and that certainly seems to be what the speculation is surrounding Shirai.

The women's divisions for both RAW and SmackDown are packed full of talent with the likes of Asuka, Belair, Flair, Bayley and Banks running things and throwing Shirai into the ring with any of those names, and indeed many others not listed there, would lead to show-stealing matches.

That's one way to take out the trash! 🤯 🤯 🤯IO SHIRAI IS INCREDIBLE!!! #NXTTakeOver #WarGames @shirai_io pic.twitter.com/Kc3DKSnVGh

— WWE (@WWE) December 7, 2020

Ruby Riott was severely under-utilised and Lana was under-appreciated but the loss of both of them would certainly be less noticeable if Io Shirai was on either of the two big shows doing what she does best, soaring through the sky and cementing that best-in-the-world claim.