IYO SKY details major change she was forced to make on a deadline

Popular WWE star IYO SKY details a major change she was forced to make ahead of her main roster debut. The Genius of the Sky is currently aligned with Rhea Ripley on WWE RAW, and the duo defeated The Kabuki Warriors this past Saturday night at Crown Jewel 2025.

Speaking with Chris Van Vliet on the Insight podcast, SKY revealed that Triple H asked her to change her ring name only five days before SummerSlam 2022. The veteran was known as Io Shirai during her time in NXT.

She shared that she got a phone call from The Game, revealing that she would be working with Bayley and Dakota Kai in Damage CTRL. SKY added that he then asked her to come up with a new ring name less than a week before her debut.

“Then he says, ‘Oh, please think of a new ring name.’ Oh my gosh, I don’t have any time because maybe that was only five days before SummerSlam. I didn’t even have one week for sure,” she recalled. [H/T: PWMania]

You can check out the full interview in the video below:

IYO SKY had an impressive reign as Women's World Champion earlier this year but lost the title at Evolution 2025. Naomi cashed in her Money in the Bank contract to win the title, but was forced to relinquish it after news of her pregnancy.

Vince Russo criticizes IYO SKY's acting on WWE RAW

Wrestling legend Vince Russo recently criticized IYO SKY and Rhea Ripley for a promo on WWE RAW.

Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Legion of RAW show, Russo criticized Ripley and IYO SKY and noted that it was difficult to understand them due to their accents. He also claimed that the two stars were terrible actors and their segment was not believable.

"This is your opener for RAW. Two women with very, very heavy accents that you cannot understand either one of them. They are both horrible, horrible, horrible over-the-top actors. And this is what you're opening the show. When I say terrible actor, what I'm saying is it's the scene is not real and the scene is not believable. Because if this were real life and this were really going on, people would not talk this way to each other. That's my point," Russo said.

Stephanie Vaquer defeated IYO SKY at WWE Wrestlepalooza last month to win the vacant Women's World Championship. It will be interesting to see what WWE has planned for the former Damage CTRL member in the weeks ahead on RAW.

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Edited by Robert Lentini