5 times current WWE Superstars have been called the world's best wrestler

#4. Io Shirai - Praised as one of the best in WWE and the world

The NXT Women's Champion

Io Shirai has been with WWE for over 2 years now, but she should have been signed much earlier. In 2017, it was reported that WWE was interested in signing her from STARDOM along with Kairi Hojo, later known as Kairi Sane.

Sane signed with WWE, but injuries delayed Shirai's signing with the company. While she was only known to a smaller, hardcore wrestling audience, WWE had its eyes on her for a while.

Some acclaimed names, including Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, declared Io Shirai as the best wrestler in the world along with fellow STARDOM stars Hojo and Mayu Iwatani.

This past weekend Io Shirai successfully defended the Wonder of Stardom title for the 9th time, tying the record held by Santana Garrett. pic.twitter.com/QhWhxYxtCf

— We Are Stardom (@we_are_stardom) April 22, 2018

While WWE was only in the early stages of figuring out how to promote the women on its roster more, Io Shirai was delivering remarkable performances. She regularly stole the show whenever she had a featured match on the card. Her matches were often called some of best bouts in the world.

What. A. BATTLE! #NXTGAB @shirai_io @SashaBanksWWE pic.twitter.com/mXJ1EKlzJF

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) July 3, 2020

Luckily, her talent has been recognized in NXT, and in June 2020, she became the NXT Women's Champion. As of this writing, she is 264 days into her reign with the first title she won in WWE.