Last week, we began to look at Io Shirai and her career so far.
We first talked about the start of her career as a freelancer and teaming with her sister, Mio. Then, there was the formation of Triple Tails. Finally, we looked at her start in Stardom and her historic reign as World of Stardom Champion.
Now, here is part two of our dive into the career of Io Shirai!
The Formation of Heisei-gun
After losing the World of Stardom Title to Yoshiko, Io Shirai formed a team with her. They then formed Heisei-gun (Heisei Army) with Reo Hazuki, Takumi Iroha, and Mayu Iwatani.
Shirai entered the 5 Star Grand Prix in September. After earning three wins and two losses, she secured a spot in the finals. She went on to beat Yoshiko to win the tournament. Two months later, the two failed to beat Nanae Takahashi and Kairi Hojo for the Goddess of Stardom Title.
The following month, she, Iwatani, and Iroha beat Hatsuhinode Kamen, Kaori Yoneyama & Tsubasa Kuragaki for the Artist of Stardom Title. At the same time, Shirai continued to defend the High Speed Title as well. She held it for 292 days, losing it on February 22, 2015 to Koguma.
In March, Stardom held a tournament to crown the new World of Stardom Champion. Shirai beat Iroha to advance to the finals, but lost to Hojo. To add insult to injury (literally) Heisei-gun was stripped of the Artist of Stardom Title in April after Iroha suffered a knee injury. This ended their reign at 129 days.
Shirai and Iwatani then entered a tournament in May to crown new Goddess of Stardom Champions. They first beat Star Fire and Kris Wolf in the semifinals. Then, they beat Chelsea and Hojo in the finals to win the gold.
Several weeks later, Shirai beat Nikki Storm to win the vacant Wonder of Stardom Title. She made history that night, becoming the first woman to hold all five of Stardom’s titles.
More championship pursuits
Io teamed up with her sister for the final time on July 26, where they beat Hiroyo Matsumoto and Iwatani. Mio retired not long after the match. Afterwards, Shirai and Iwatani continued to defend their Goddess of Stardom Title. They ended up breaking the record for most successful defenses with four. The record-breaking defense came on September 23 against Dash Chisako and Sendai Sachiko.
She also continued to defend the Wonder of Stardom Title. Her reign came to an end on November 23 in a winner-take-all match against NWA World Women’s Champion, Santana Garrett. Her reign ended at 190 days and with seven successful title defenses.
That December, Tokyo Sports went on to name Shirai the joshi wrestler of the year. To cap off her impressive 2015, she beat Meiko Satomura on December 23 to capture her second World of Stardom Title.
Her success continued into 2016. First, she and Iwatani defended the Goddess of Stardom Title for the seventh time on January 10. Then, a week later, she beat Hojo in her first successful defense of the World of Stardom Title. Finally, she, Hojo, and Iwatani beat Evie, Kellie Skater, and Matsumoto to win the vacant Artist of Stardom Title.
For the early part of the year into the spring, Shirai went on to defend all three titles. In May, Stardom talent traveled to Europe to compete. The promotion also announced a tournament to crown the inaugural Stardom World Association (SWA) Champion. Shirai beat Kay Lee Ray, Dragonita, and then Toni Storm to win the gold.
A few months later, Shirai and Iwatani lost the Goddess of Stardom Title to Kagetsu and Kyoko Kimura. Their reign ended at 407 days, setting the records for most successful title defenses (seven) and longest reign. Shirai then lost the SWA Title to Storm on July 24. Three months later, her, Hojo, and Iwatani lost the Artist of Stardom Title to Hana Kimura, Kyoko Kimura, and Kagetsu.
The Start of Queen’s Quest
In November, Shirai and Iwatani competed in the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League. They advanced to the finals but lost to Hojo and Yoko Bito. Following the loss, Shirai turned on Iwatani and ended their stable. She formed a new alliance with Hazuki and Momo Watanabe, called Queen’s Quest.
At the end of 2016, Shirai again earned Tokyo Sport’s joshi wrestler of the year. She then defended the World of Stardom Title for the ninth time on December 22 against Iwatani.
2017 started off very well for Queen’s Quest; the trio beat Kagetsu, Kimura, and Viper for the vacant Artist of Stardom Title on January 7. But the following month, Watanabe suffered an injury and was replaced by Azumi. On February 23, Shirai successfully defended the World of Stardom Title against Shayna Baszler. This was her eleventh title defense, which broke the previous record she set in 2014.
Due to Watanabe’s injury, Queen’s Quest was stripped of the Artist of Stardom Title. This ended their reign at 92 days. However, they regained the titles six days later after beating Kimura, Kagetsu, and Rosa Negra.
In their first defense, they lost the title to Hiromi Mimura, Hojo, and Konami. They won it back on June 4 but lost it again several weeks later.
After another impressive reign, Shirai lost the World of Stardom Title on June 21 to Iwatani. Her reign lasted 546 days along with 14 successful title defenses. The next day, she announced she was going on a hiatus to recover from a neck injury.
She returned in July to offer Viper a spot in Queen’s Quest, which Viper accepted. Shirai’s in-ring return came on August 13, where she, Viper, and Hazuki regained the Artist of Stardom Title. She then beat Yoko Bito on November 19 to capture the Wonder of Stardom Title. To cap off 2017, Shirai was named Tokyo Sport’s joshi wrestler of the year for the third year in a row, the first woman to do so.
On April 21, 2018, Shirai defended the Wonder of Stardom Title against Martina. This marked her tenth successful title defense, breaking the record held by Garrett. The following month, she lost the title to Watanabe, ending her reign at 185 days.
Check back next week for part three, where we look at the start of Io Shirai in WWE!