Current member of Bayley's WWE faction shares her thoughts on the strange name change

Bayley's faction member IYO SKY opened up about her name change after making her main roster debut.

IYO SKY made her WWE debut in 2018 under the name Io Shirai. She was part of the NXT roster. SKY also competed in the second Mae Young Classic tournament, where she lost in the finals to Toni Storm.

IYO has accomplished everything possible in NXT. She is a former NXT Women's Champion and a former NXT Women's Tag Team Champion, along with Zoey Stark. She also won the 2022 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic teaming with Kay Lee Ray.

In a recent interview with Tokyo Sports, SKY spoke about her name change. She mentioned that her old name Io Shirai would resonate with Japanese fans, but it may not be the same with American fans.

She also stated that 'Io' looked like a smaller case, 'L' and 'O', and thus her name is now fully capitalized so that it's easier to understand.

“I think the image of the previous 'Shirai' can be conveyed in kanji to Japanese people, but that is not the case in the United States. I think it is a good name because the 'sky' in it conveys the image. The first letter of 'Io' was capitalized and the second letter was lower-case 'Io.' So, it looked like a lowercase L and O (lo), or like a number, and some people misread it. Now it’s all capitalized 'IYO,' which I think makes it easier to understand,” SKY revealed [H/T Wrestletalk.com]

Triple H

@TripleH

What an absolutely incredible main event. So proud of all three of the women in this match.

Congratulations to @shirai_io, the NEW #WWENXT Women’s Champion!

#NXTTakeOver #WeAreNXT

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What an absolutely incredible main event. So proud of all three of the women in this match.

Congratulations to @shirai_io, the NEW #WWENXT Women’s Champion!

#NXTTakeOver #WeAreNXT https://t.co/ILMEJByLY6

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What is next for IYO SKY and Bayley's faction?

After appearing at SummerSlam, IYO SKY debuted on RAW and faced current RAW Women's Champion Bianca Belair.

SKY teamed up with Dakota Kai to participate in the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship tournament. The duo defeated the teams of Tamina & Dana Brooke and Alexa Bliss & Asuka and are now in the finals.

WWE

@WWE

#IYOSKY and @ImKingKota are heading to the FINALS!

#WWERaw

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#IYOSKY and @ImKingKota are heading to the FINALS!

#WWERaw https://t.co/a6yTNK1gfx

The members of Bayley's faction will face the winners of SmackDown's semifinals bracket. Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah are already in that round and will face the winners of the 'Second Chance' fatal four-way match scheduled to take place tomorrow night on SmackDown.

Do you think Bayley's faction will be crowned the new WWE Women's Tag Team Champions? Let us know in the comments section below.

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