Before she was released from WWE in May 2025, Dakota Kai spent three years with one of the vital dominant women’s faction’s in the corporate when she joined Damage CTRL alongside Bayley and IYO SKY at SummerSlam 2022. Nevertheless, following her departure from the group, Kai enjoyed a short-lived singles run before getting released from WWE after her involvement within the Women’s Intercontinental Title tournament to crown its inaugural champion. After having been out of the highlight for a 12 months, Kai has revealed that she was surprised by her WWE release on “Insight,” and the way it in comparison with the primary time she was let go from the promotion months before her return at SummerSlam.
“In 2022, I got resigned with the company throughout the three months. In order that was, I do not know that felt different. With this one here, it almost felt like, especially with the IC championship tournament, it felt like we were doing like ‘Oh, I’m getting more opportunities.’ So, it was more of a shock, I assume. But, that is sort of why I needed to take the step back only for me and emotionally and things like that.”
Dakota Kai reveals how she was released from WWE in 2025
Kai continued by sharing how she was informed about her release, but was adamant about her gratitude towards the corporate, explaining that she didn’t think her dream of becoming a WWE star was possible.
“A phone call. Yeah, they typically do it like that after which not long after it’ll be online and things like that. So I needed to like take a step back from social media just cause it’s lots. Losing a job in any sense is rough, but I never ever thought I’d make it to WWE anyway. I feel for me the entire experience was similar to a nice surprise and even then coming back in 2022 … I used to be just very grateful to be there cause I never saw myself in that position in any respect ever.”
Kai also didn’t rule out the potential of returning to WWE, saying that she’s not interested by burning bridges with the corporate but desires to prioritize what’s best for her profession first. This past March, Kai returned to skilled wrestling under the name Charlie, where she’s had matches with Kris Statlander and Shotzi Blackheart on the indie scene.
In case you use any of the quotes in this text, please credit “Insight” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.