Io Shirai’s NXT Women’s Championship will be on the line at NXT TakeOver 31.
In what looks to be one of Shirai’s toughest title defenses yet, she’ll face off against two competitors. The triple threat match will see former NXT UK Women’s Champion Toni Storm and former Retribution member Mercedes Martinez vying for the belt. The title match will happen Feb. 14, so fans just have to wait a couple of weeks.
Check out WWE’s official announcement of the match below:
Io Shirai has fearlessly faced all comers since capturing the NXT Women’s Title, but she’ll have to survive two dangerous rivals to remain champion. The Genius of the Sky will defend against Toni Storm and Mercedes Martinez in a Triple Threat Match at NXT TakeOver on Sunday, Feb. 14.
Since arriving on the black-and-gold brand at NXT TakeOver 31, Storm has made her singular goal clear: capturing the championship. And as a former NXT UK Women’s Champion, Storm is familiar with what it takes to win gold. But this time, she’s approaching her pursuit differently, displaying a newfound ruthlessness since betraying Ember Moon and aligning with Candice LeRae for WarGames.
Storm confidently declared last month she would be the next NXT Women’s Champion, and Shirai didn’t take kindly to that bold proclamation. The Genius of the Sky duked it out with Storm, bidding her adieu with a moonsault. Storm hasn’t been the only one eyeing Shirai’s position atop the mountain. Martinez recently returned to NXT, decimating Shirai in the process and announcing her intentions of becoming NXT Women’s Champion.
Shirai cost both the chance to win the first-ever Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, interfering in their first-round match to gain retribution for Martinez’s attack. But Storm and Mercedes’s temporary alliance disintegrated a week later, with both nearly coming to blows in a brouhaha with Shirai.
The Genius of the Sky has put together one of the most impressive title reigns in NXT history. But will it come to an end at TakeOver?
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