Dakota Kai's Career Told In Photos, Through The Years
Dakota Kai is a well-known name among hardcore pro wrestling fans, and it also became known to the casual fans after she made her return to WWE at the 2022 SummerSlam and became part of Bayley's faction alongside former NXT Women's Champion Iyo Sky.
RELATED: Dakota Kai: 10 Of Her Best Instagram Posts
Dakota Kai is a former 2-time NXT Women's Tag Team Champion and has also held various championships in several promotions across the globe. She has been in the pro wrestling business since 2007 and is now arguably at the most significant run of her career on the WWE main roster. With that said, let's take a look at Dakota Kai's pro wrestling career through pictures taken over the years.
9 Training & Debut
Dakota Kai began her pro wrestling career when she was around 19 years old and made her in-ring debut in December 2007 for Impact Pro Wrestling. She debuted under the name Evie, which is a tribute to her favorite Pokémon, Eevee.
She then continued to compete in New Zealand for Impact Pro Wrestling until September 2011 when she debuted for the Australian promotion Professional Wrestling Alliance. During this time, she became a 3-time IPW New Zealand Women's Champion and held it for a combined 645 days. She also had lengthy reigns as the PWWA Champion and the Interim Champion.
8 US Independent Circuit
While still competing for IPW and PWA back in Australia and New Zealand, Dakota Kai made her debut in the United States for the Shimmer Women's Athletes promotion in April 2013.
She competed for Shine Wrestling and Progress Wrestling in the United States. During her time in Shimmer Women Athletes, she teamed up with Ruby Soho as Team Slap Happy and won the Shimmer Tag Team Championship from Melanie Cruise & Yumi Ohka and held it for 140 days between June and November 2016 before dropping it to Tessa Blanchard & Vanessa Kraven.
7 Japanese Promotions
Dakota Kai made her debut in Japan for the World Women Pro Wrestling Diana promotion and competed for them between January and March 2014. She then appeared for other Japanese promotions like Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling and also made an impact in World Wonder Ring Stardom.
RELATED: 10 Great Japanese Wrestling Promotions That Aren't NJPW
During her time in Stardom, she became part of the Hyper Destroyers faction alongside Hiroyo Matsumoto and Kellie Skater. Together the three wrestlers went on to capture the Artist Of Stardom Championship and held it for 84 days before dropping it to Io Shirai, Kairi Sane, and Mayu Iwatani in February 2016.
6 Signing With WWE & Mae Young Classic
Dakota Kai made her first WWE appearance as Evie in October 2015 in a squash match against Nia Jax in NXT but didn't sign a contract with the company until December 2016.
After signing with WWE, she reported to the Performance Center, where she trained with future stars like Bianca Belair, Lacey Evans, Raquel Gonzalez, and Tay Conti. WWE announced Dakota Kai as a contestant in the 2017 Mae Young Classic. She defeated Kavita Devi and Rhea Ripley in the first and second rounds before losing to Kairi Sane in the quarter-final.
5 Re-Debut In NXT
After the tournament, Dakota Kai continued to compete in several NXT live events before making her televised re-debut on the October 25, 2017, episode of NXT. She competed in a battle royal to get the chance to compete for the vacant NXT Women's Championship at NXT TakeOver: WarGames 2017 but got eliminated by Sage Beckett.
After that, she continued to perform in live events before her second televised match on the January 10, 2018, episode of NXT, in which she lost to a debuting Shayna Baszler. Dakota Kai scored her first victory on NXT when she defeated Lacey Evans in a quick match on the March 14, 2018, episode.
4 Various Storylines & Heel Turn
Dakota Kai competed in her first WrestleMania when she participated in the women's battle royal at WrestleMania 34 and made history by becoming the first female New Zealander to compete at the Grandest Stage of them All. She had two failed attempts at winning the NXT Women's Championship from Shayna Baszler. She also competed in the tournament to crown the inaugural NXT UK Women's Champion but lost to Rhea Ripley in the semi-final.
RELATED: 10 Biggest WWE Heel Turns Of The Past 5 Years
She received a title match against Ripley in a dark match at the Evolution PPV but couldn't get the victory. After getting sidelined with an injury, Kai formed a partnership with Tegan Nox, which ended in betrayal after she turned heel on Nox at the 2019 NXT TakeOver: WarGames event.
3 Partnership With Raquel Gonzalez
While continuing her feud with Tegan Nox, Dakota Kai defeated her former partner at NXT TakeOver: Portland after a debuting Raquel Gonzalez helped her by interfering in the match. After a series of events, Kai and Gonzalez became partners and participated in the first-ever women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in 2020. They defeated Aliyah and Jessi Kamea in the first round and Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter before defeating Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart in the final to win the tournament.
WWE awarded them a WWE Women's Tag Team Championship opportunity against Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler, which ended in controversy after Baszler made Kai submit despite the latter not being the legal competitor. It led to William Regal awarding them with the new NXT Women's Tag Team Championships, which they lost to Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart the same day.
2 Break-Up & Reunion With Raquel Gonzalez
Signs of dissension between Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez started showing after the latter showed signs of a face turn after winning the NXT Women's Championship. It led to Dakota Kai turning on Gonzalez and costing her the NXT Women's Championship against Mandy Rose at NXT: Halloween Havoc 2021. She then teamed up with Wendy Choo to defeat Raquel González and Cora Jade in the women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, but showed signs of a face turn after Toxic Attraction beat down Raquel Gonzalez during the match.
After Kai and Choo lost to Io Shirai and Kay Lee Ray in the final of the tournament, they feuded with Toxic Attraction. After Mandy Rose's faction took out Wendy Choo, Raquel Gonzalez reunited with Dakota Kai. They challenged Jacey Jane and Gigi Dolin at NXT: Stand & Deliver 2022 for the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship and won the title for the second time at the event but dropped it back to Jane and Dolin on the following week's episode of NXT.
1 Release & Return
After losing the tag team title, Dakota Kai unsuccessfully challenged Mandy Rose for the NXT Women's Championship on the April 12, 2022, episode of NXT, which ended up being her final appearance for WWE as the company released Kai from her contract.
However, after various speculations of her next move, she returned to WWE alongside Iyo Sky at SummerSlam 2022 and aligned herself with Bayley to form a new heel faction. She is now involved in the tournament for the vacant WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.
