Shayna Baszler has spent most of her time as NXT Women’s Champion retaining her belt in a variety of matches, and with Io Shirai challenging her for the belt at NXT TakeOver XXV, it was another chance for Baszler to attempt to retain her belt. Unfortunately for Shirai, she didn’t do enough to take down the reigning champion, even though she almost had some help.
Moonsault to the outside from the #GeniusOfTheSky @shirai_io in this war for the NXT #WomensTitle at #NXTTakeOver: XXV! pic.twitter.com/elPWMiohGF
— WWE (@WWE) June 2, 2019
In a match that was every bit as hard-fought as fans would expect, it was Baszler who was able to overcome multiple hardships, getting Shirai to submit after locking her into a devastating chokehold on the mat. During the match, both Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir almost interfered with Shirai, but Candice LeRae came to her defense with a kendo stick. After the match, Shirai utilized the stick to take down Baszler in the ring, delivering a ton of blows to her before leaving her writhing on the ground.
