Tag: Dakota Kai

Dakota Kai (Now “Charlie”) vs. Kris Statlander Set for Pro-Wrestling: EVE’s Wrestle Queendom 8

Former WWE standout Dakota Kai is officially stepping back into the ring next year — and her return comes with a brand-new name and a huge championship opportunity.

Kai, released by WWE in May, has been announced for Pro-Wrestling: EVE’s biggest event of the year, Wrestle Queendom 8, taking place March 8, 2026, at the O2 in London. The news was revealed by Will Ospreay, who is currently part of EVE’s creative team.

Going forward, Kai will compete under the ring name Charlie, and her first assignment is massive: she’ll challenge Kris Statlander for the EVE International Championship. It will also mark the first-ever singles meeting between the two.

Despite plenty of chatter linking Kai to AEW after her release, the former two-time NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion hasn’t signed with or appeared for any promotion since leaving WWE. Her last non-WWE-affiliated match came all the way back in 2017 for PROGRESS.

Statlander, meanwhile, has been a busy dual champion. She captured the EVE International Title from Anita Vaughan in July and has already racked up two defenses — against Nina Samuels in September and in a four-way against Vaughan, Alex Windsor and Yuu in November. On top of her UK gold, Statlander also holds the AEW Women’s World Championship, making this showdown even more intriguing.

Wrestle Queendom 8 now has a marquee matchup locked in:
Charlie vs. Kris Statlander — first time ever — for the EVE International Championship.

Dakota Kai Clears the Air on WWE Absence

Dakota Kai may have been off WWE TV for over a month, but fans worried about an injury can breathe a sigh of relief — she’s perfectly fine.

Kai hasn’t wrestled since the March 27th episode of WWE Main Event, sparking speculation about her status, especially given her history with injuries. However, the Damage CTRL member recently took to Twitter to squash the rumors and reassure her supporters. In a simple but heartfelt post, Kai said:

“I miss wrestling and I miss you guys. Not hurt btw!”

While she didn’t go into specifics about the reason for her absence, Kai’s message confirms that her time away from the ring isn’t medically related. Whether it’s storyline-driven or simply a creative reset, it seems the New Zealand native is just as eager to return as her fans are to see her back in action.

As of now, there’s no official word on when she’ll return to WWE programming. But given the ongoing shake-ups in the women’s division and Damage CTRL’s recent internal drama, her reappearance could come at a pivotal moment.

Could Dakota Kai be lying in wait for a major return angle?

Dakota Kai Returns On Raw

Dakota Kai has returned to WWE.

On this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW, Kai teamed up with her Damage CTRL mates (IYO SKY and Kairi Sane) to defeat Pure Fusion Collective (Sonya Deville, Zoey Stark, and Shayna Baszler).

Kai hasn’t been seen on WWE television since July after suffering a torn meniscus. Kai suffered the injury on the same leg where she tore her ACL last year. Kai was initially suspected to be out of action for eight to 10 weeks.

Damage CTRL is still missing one member, with Asuka recovering from an injury. She reportedly suffered the injury prior to WrestleMania 40 on an episode of “WWE SmackDown.” A date for her return has not been announced.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1856148863448465697
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1856146274434580574

Dakota Kai Out 8-10 Weeks With A Torn Meniscus

Dakota Kai is unfortunately no stranger to knee surgery in her career, and it appears she’s headed for another one, as per “WWE Raw” commentary. Kai, who was attacked last week by Shayna Baszler, Sonya Deville, and Zoey Stark — a group now known as The Pure Fusion Collective — needs surgery for a torn meniscus in her right knee and is expected to be out of action for 8-10 weeks.

It’s unclear when the injury actually took place, but Kai hasn’t wrestled a match since July 27 at the WWE SuperShow live event in Tokyo, Japan, where she and IYO SKY defeated former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill. She was slated to take on Deville on last week’s “Raw,” having laid down the challenge the week prior, but was seemingly written out of that match by the backstage attack and replaced by her Damage CTRL ally SKY, who emerged victorious. On Monday’s episode, Kai was nowhere to be found while SKY and Io Shirai competed against Baszler and Stark in a No. 1 Contenders’ match for The Unholy Union’s women’s tag titles, a match that ended in a no contest when the champions attacked both sides.

Kai suffered a torn ACL in the same knee last year and only returned to action in February. Damage CTRL has been plagued by knee problems in 2024, with Asuka still recovering from her own injury with no timeline for her return having been announced.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Dakota Kai Requires Surgery For Torn ACL Injury

It is being reported that Dakota Kai‘s injury is to her ACL and she will be on the shelf for an extended period of time.

According to the Wrestling Observer, it is being reported that Kai suffered the injury on the Women’s Tag Team Championship match on May 12. This is the same match that Liv Morgan has suffered a shoulder injury. Kai is scheduled to have surgery today.

As for Morgan, she may require surgery, but it has not been confirmed at this time. Kai’s injury is said to have occurred when she was trying to protect an already injured Morgan. Most ACL injuries take at least nine months to require if not longer.

Kai is one-third of Damage CTRL, and it appeared as if the group may have been leading to a breakup with IYO SKY being the one to leave the trio. However, with this injury it is not known what is next in the long run. With that being said, Bayley and SKY will be in the Fatal Four Way tag team bout on May 29 that will determine new tag team champions since Morgan’s injury.

Source: Diva Dirt

Backstage News On Last Minute Plans WWE Made For Bayley’s New Stable

One of the biggest, if not the biggest, stories coming out of WWE SummerSlam last weekend was the return of both Bayley and Dakota Kai, along with the main roster debut of Iyo Sky (fka Io Shirai). The new stable has quickly made an impact between their appearances at WWE SummerSlam and “WWE Raw” two days later, and it’s even more impressive given the last-minute nature of the stable’s conception.

According to PWInsider, things came together for the group so late that Sky’s new name wasn’t trademarked until July 31, the day after SummerSlam, a wildly uncharacteristic move for the promotion, which likes to trademark character names well before they debut. Indeed, Sky’s debut at SummerSlam was accompanied by video graphics that still displayed the Io Shirai name. PWI also noted that while Bayley was expected to be at SummerSlam, there were no “concrete” plans for her to appear when the creative was overseen by Vince McMahon.

PWInsider also confirmed that Kai had not originally been in the plans for SummerSlam. The WWE star, who was released by the promotion back in April and whose noncompete clause had long since elapsed, was reportedly contacted at the last minute and didn’t travel to Nashville, the site of SummerSlam, until the night before. Kai herself stated the deal came together quickly prior to the PLE in an appearance on “WWE: The Bump” this Wednesday.

While the group doesn’t have a formal name as of yet, Bayley hinted that the group could be called Control in a tweet shortly after their SummerSlam appearance. On “Raw,” the trio set the tone for the show, attacking Becky Lynch and brawling with “Raw” Women’s Champion Bianca Belair, Asuka, and Alexa Bliss shortly after Sky’s match with Belair, which ended in a no contest.

https://twitter.com/itsBayleyWWE/status/1553775548580724737

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Backstage News On SummerSlam Returns, Name Change Note

During last night’s WWE SummerSlam event, Bayley, Dakota Kai, and Io Shirai made their returns after the WWE “Raw” Women’s Title match with champion Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch.

The three would come out to confront Belair, but Lynch would return to the ring to give her backup.

There are several backstage updates about the returns of Bayley, Kai, and Shirai.

Io Shirai will now be going by the ring name, Iyo Sky according to PWInsider. 

According to Fightful Select, Sky’s contract was set to expire soon and there had been no creative plans for her in NXT after her injury. WWE officials couldn’t confirm a new contract had been signed beyond saying, “it appears so.”  Shirai has not been in the WWE ring since WWE WrestleMania 38 weekend when she competed in a fatal four-way match against Mandy Rose, Cora Jade, and Kay Lee Ray (now known as Alba Fyre) at “NXT” Stand And Deliver.

Bayley had been training at the WWE Performance Center and Flatbacks for weeks in preparation for her return to the ring, according to Fightful Select. She had been sidelined since July 2021 with a torn ACL.

Fightful Select also reported that Kai was a name that several people in the company thought Triple H would make a priority to bring back since he is now that he is the head of creative. Before she was released in April, Kai had several main roster looks. AEW talks were said to never move past an introduction.

It was also noted by Fightful Select that this new stable with Bayley, Sky, and Kai was pitched quite a while ago and it was before Kai was first released in April. Vince McMahon had reportedly rejected the idea. There were other versions pitched that include Kay Lee Ray and Raquel Rodriguez.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Dakota Kai, Dexter Lumis And Malcolm Bivens Among 10 Released from NXT Contracts

WWE released 10 performers from their NXT contracts Friday, including Dakota Kai, Dexter Lumis and Malcolm Bivens, according to Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp.

Persia Pirotta, Harland, Draco Anthony, Paige Prinzivalli, Sanjana George, Mila Malani and Raelyn Divine were the other performers who also reportedly received their releases.

Kai, who had been under contract with WWE since 2016, spent her entire tenure in NXT and was a two-time NXT women’s tag team champion.

The 33-year-old Kai is a native of New Zealand who went by the name Evie on the independent scene before signing with WWE, winning championships in popular women’s promotions Shimmer and Stardom.

Kai was popular as both a face and a heel during her NXT run, but she is perhaps best known for teaming with and later feuding with Raquel Rodriguez.

Raquel and Kai held the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships together twice, including as recently as earlier this month when they dropped them to Toxic Attraction.

Rodriguez seemingly reacted to the release of her friend on Twitter:

Bivens signed with WWE in 2019 and managed multiple acts. Most recently, he was the mouthpiece for Diamond Mine, which features Roderick Strong, The Creed Brothers and Ivy Nile.

Sapp added that WWE had asked Bivens to re-sign with the company in February, but he “made it clear” he didn’t want to.

Bivens went by the name Stokely Hathaway before joining WWE and spent time in Ring of Honor, Evolve, MLW and other independent wrestling companies.

AEW star MJF and Impact Wrestling star Moose were among the wrestlers Bivens managed before he went to WWE.

Bivens managed the tag team Indus Sher and singles wrestler Tyler Rust in NXT before finding his greatest success as part of Diamond Mine.

After news of his release broke, Bivens tweeted the following video, utilizing his signature sense of humor:

Lumis, 38, signed with WWE in 2019 after previously competing in Impact Wrestling under the name Samuel Shaw.

He became a cult favorite in NXT thanks to his on-screen romance with Indi Hartwell, leading to a storyline wedding. Collectively, Lumis and Hartwell were known as InDex.

Given NXT’s renewed focus on younger and less experienced Superstars, Lumis may have been a victim of circumstance due to his age.

Pirotta, a 25-year-old native of Australia, signed with WWE last year and spent much of her time in WWE teaming with Hartwell, who is a fellow Aussie.

Persia and Indi had recently started a storyline where they were in relationships with Duke Hudson and Lumis, respectively, and forced them to compete together as a tag team.

Harland, whose real name is Parker Boudreaux, played college football as an offensive lineman at the University of Central Florida.

He signed with WWE last year amid comparisons to a young Brock Lesnar and served as Joe Gacy’s on-air disciple. Harland recently disappeared from WWE programming during Gacy’s feud with NXT champion Bron Breakker.

Anthony’s most high-profile angle in NXT saw Gacy and Harland trying to recruit him, only for Xyon Quinn to step in.

That led to a match between Anthony and Quinn on the April 12 episode of NXT, which Quinn won. That marked Anthony’s final NXT appearance.

Source: Bleacher Report

The full list of released NXT Superstars is as follows:

  • Malcoml Bivens
  • Dakota Kai
  • Dexter Lumis
  • Harland
  • Persia Pirotta
  • Draco Anthony
  • Sanjana George
  • Mila Malani
  • Raelyn Divine
  • Blair Baldwin (referee)

Dakota Kai signed with WW in December of 2016 following a successful stint on the indies as well as a well-received run in Japanese promotion Stardom. Kai competed in the 2020 Women’s Royal Rumble match. With Raquel Gonzalez, Kai won the first-ever Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and was an inaugural NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion.

Dakota Kai posted the following on Twitter:

Above everything, thank you all. I am so overwhelmed at all the love and support. The DMs, txts, tweets.. you all have my heart. I love you. I am thankful for being able to meet, work, and intertwine with so many beautiful people, people I looked up to, people I learned from.. I met some of my best friends over these last few years that will remain in my life forever. I don’t know what’s next for me. I chose ‘Evie’ at 17 years old. That chapter is shut.. just know this; I’m far from being done.

Mia Yim Replaced By Dakota Kai In WWE NXT WarGames Match Tonight

There was an injury angle on tonight’s WWE NXT “Takeover: WarGames 2019” Pre-show that saw Mia Yim suffer an injury after a backstage attack by a mystery attacker. Team Captain Rhea Ripley later talked Dakota Kai into replacing Yim.

Yim legitimately suffered a broken nose during her Ladder Match loss to Io Shirai last Wednesday, so that could be why she was pulled.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1198390359019028480

Below is the updated Takeover card for tonight:

Mens’ WarGames Match:  The Undisputed ERA (Adam Cole (Captain), Roderick Strong, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly) vs. Tommaso Ciampa (Captain), Keith Lee, Dominik Dijakovic, and TBA

Women’s WarGames Match: Rhea Ripley (Captain), Tegan Nox, Dakota Kai, and Candice LeRae vs. Shayna Baszler (Captain), Io Shirai, Bianca Belair, and Kay Lee Ray

Finn Balor vs. Matt Riddle

Pete Dunne vs. Damian Priest vs. Killian Dain
Winner faces NXT Champion Adam Cole at Survivor Series.

Pre-show
Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs. Angel Garza

Dakota Kai Undergoes Surgery For Torn ACL

dakota kai injury surgery torn acl

NXT wrestler Dakota Kai has confirmed she suffered an ACL injury last month and underwent surgery yesterday to get it fixed.

“On December 7th in Green Bay during the last NXT Road Loop of 2018, I planted my foot awkwardly after a kick and tore my ACL,” Kai explained in a Twitter post about heading into surgery.

Adding, “I put off posting this because I wanted to focus on being home for the holidays and to be honest, I dreaded having to even mention this as I didn’t want to let any of you down. That, over everything, was and is the most heartbreaking feeling in the world.”

Kai says this means she’ll be out “for a bit,” but didn’t specify how long.

Dakota finished her post writing: “I’m surrounded by amazing people, doctors, trainers and you. It helps more than I can explain, especially being so far away from my family. The amount of positivity & support I have received already has been so overwhelming. It’s going to be a tough ride, mentally and physically. I know that. The last thing I want is any sympathy … but hear me when I say this; Within my whole being, I know for sure I will be back stronger than ever.”

“I will hit the ground, running. That’s a promise.”

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet