Dakota Kai has been out of action since tearing her ACL in May 2023. The wrestler was last seen on the May 12 edition of “SmackDown,” where she competed against Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships.
Recently, it was announced that Dakota Kai would make her grand comeback to the ring on the next edition of Friday Night SmackDown. Kai will team up with the former Damage CTRL leader Bayley to face off against The Kabuki Warriors, Asuka, and Kairi Sane.
Dakota Kai is set to return on WWE SmackDown
Dakota Kai has been supporting her teammate ‘The Role Model’ Bayley after the said athlete challenged Iyo Sky for the WWE Women’s Championship. Bayley surprised the world by winning the 2024 Women’s Royal Rumble match. She revealed that Iyo Sky, Asuka, and Kairi Sane continuously mocked her in Japanese, leading her to turn on her former faction member.
In the recent edition of the Blue Brand, Dakota Kai received medical clearance, confirming her complete recovery from her injury. Afterward, Kai made it clear that she would support Bayley on her ‘Road to WrestleMania’ moment. However, this infuriated the other member of Team Sky, who went on to attack Dakota for her decision.
Dakota Kai is officially cleared to compete for the first time since last spring 🙌 pic.twitter.com/6iHuGwn3YX
— WrestlingWorldCC (@WrestlingWCC) February 24, 2024
Interestingly, in this week’s SmackDown after Kai was attacked by Damage CTRL, the General Manager of SmackDown Nick Aldis announced the Bayley & Dakota Kai vs The Kabuki Warriors match. Kai has already stated that Asuka & Kairi Sane will pay for attacking her and Bayley is on board with the destruction ahead.
🚨 Bayley & Dakota Kai v The Kabuki Warriors is set for next weeks #SmackDown in Glendale, AZ.
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) February 24, 2024
DAKOTA KAI IS CLEARED(?)! pic.twitter.com/M8gvZrW4Ct
Dakota’s last match also saw her teaming with Bayley, and now after a long hiatus, Kai will again start her post-injury phase with a tag team match. WWE fans have noticed that ‘King Kota’ was previously seen as a tag team champion with her then partner, Iyo Sky, and now she will once again face the current WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka & Kairi Sane.
Why did WWE release Dakota Kai?
Dakota Kai also known as Cheree Georgina Crowley, joined the Stamford-based company on 15 December 2016 as a new talent on the NXT brand. Kai made her first breakthrough when she won the inaugural Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
At that time Kai was a big name in the NXT women’s division. During the main roster tryout Dakota tried to prove herself to join the Red or Blue brand. Unfortunately, after a lot of failed attempts, Kai was released from her contract along with many other talents from the company.
Dakota Kai and Malcolm Bivens have been released by WWE, per @SeanRossSapp pic.twitter.com/ZityH1u4mB
— B/R Wrestling (@BRWrestling) April 29, 2022
Dave Meltzer of Fightful Select revealed the reason for Kai’s release stating, “The decision had been made after several tryouts that they didn’t see Dakota Kai as main roster material. She had been with the company for years and the idea was not to have people have ten-year careers as NXT stars so there was nothing left for her. A lot of people disagree but they have visions about women and obviously, she’s a good wrestler but didn’t fit.”
Dakota Kai re-signed with WWE on July 30, 2022. She made a strong return at SummerSlam alongside her new partners, Bayley and Iyo Sky. Following that, she adopted a heel character on RAW and became the founding member of the Damage CTRL faction.
What do you think about Dakota Kai making her WWE comeback on SmackDown? Let us know your thoughts on it in the comment section below!
