Dakota Kai

Some Lesser Known Facts About Dakota Kai

• Dakota Kai was born into a sports-loving family as her grandfather played for All Black, the national rugby team of New Zealand in 1949 and 1950.

  

• Her father always pushed her and her siblings into siblings. She often participated in track and event tournaments during high school.

• During her teenage years, her younger brother introduced her to WWE. So, she started watching it but hid it from her parents.

  

• She was fascinated by the wrestler-actor Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock as her mother belongs to the Samoan village of Lepea on the island of Upolu.

• She later started wrestling and decided to become a professional wrestler.

• In 2007, she started wrestling in the Auckland-based promotion, Impact Pro Wrestling (IPW), under the ring name ‘Evie, based on her favourite Pokemon character, Eevee.

  

• In 2011, she moved to Australia and wrestled in the Sydney-based promotion, Pro Wrestling Alliance Australia (PWA Australia).

  

• She fought in the all-female Chicago-based promotion Shimmer Women Athletes in April 2013.

  

• She moved back to Auckland in 2013 and wrestled in the IPW faction named The Investment.

• In 2014, she spent 3 months in the Japan-based promotion Pro Wrestling Zero1.

• She fought her first WWE NXT bout against Nia Jax on 14 October 2015, who was also debuting, but she lost.

  

• In late December 2015 and early 2016, she wrestled in the Tokyo-based promotion, World Wonder Ring Stardom.

• She signed a contract with WWE on 15 December 2016. She participated in the 2017 Mae Young Classic under the new ring name ‘Dakota Kai.’

• Kai in her new name means sea in the Polynesian language, which is a tribute to her journey to reach WWE. It has no connection to the WWE wrestler Leilani Kai, who wrestled in the 1980s and 1990s. According to her, she also liked the tomboyish feel of her ring name.

• In the WrestleMania 34 on 8 April 2018, she became the first New Zealand wrestler to fight in WrestleMania by participating in the Women’s Battle Royal.

  

• She also fought in many WWE NXT UK matches in 2018.

  

• In January 2019, she suffered a torn ACL injury that sidelined her for 8 months before returning in September, fighting against Taynara Conti (ring name Tay Melo).

• At the NXT TakeOver: WarGames on 23 November 2019, she turned heel (villain role) for the first time by attacking her tag team partner Nox.

• On 26 January 2020, she fought in her first Royal Rumble event, entering 15th.

• In 2020, she dyed her hair pink to pay tribute to the Japanese wrestler Hana Kimura who committed suicide after being bullied on the internet.

  

• In a 2022 interview, she revealed that she was an introverted person, but liked meeting new people.

• On 29 April 2022, her WWE contract expressed as she decided to separate from the promotion for some time.

• During a 2022 interview, she claimed that if she ever had to fight with a celebrity. she would fight the rapper and singer Doja Cat.

• She returned to WWE on 30 July 2022 and formed a team with Iyo Sky and Bayley formed a tag team named Damage CTRL.

  

• In 2023 and 2024, she suffered multiple injuries in her knees (ACL tear).

• In August 2023, she started a podcast named ‘ZELVXandCharlieGirl’ in partnership with Thea Trinidad (ring name Zelina Vega).

  

• On 13 January 2025, she lost to Lyra Valkyria in the final of the Women’s Intercontinental Champion.

• She would have been a fashion designer if she had not been a wrestler.

• She is very famous on Twitch as ‘Charlie Girl’ where she often talks to her fans and streams video games.

  

• One weird/embarrassing thing she has been told is that she was the clumsiest person ever in the wrestling ring.

• She is close friends with many WWE wrestlers including Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke, and Mia Yim.

• She has been featured in many music videos including ‘Sweet December’ by the Auckland band, These Four Walls.

• Her WWE character has been used in various versions of WWE 2K video games.

• She is a dog lover and has a pet dog.