Dakota Kai made her in-ring return after nearly one year on this week’s episode of WWE SmackDown by teaming up with Bayley. While the latter expected to receive backup from her long-time buddy against the current DAMAGE CTRL members, she ended up suffering yet another betrayal by the former WWE NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion.
The scheduled match on WWE Smackdown was Bayley and Dakota Kai vs. WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) which ended in a No Contest. The outcome came after Dakota turned her back on Bayley and further allowed Damage CTRL to beat down Bayley.
WWE Smackdown: Rey Mysterio Makes Surprise Return On February 1 Episode
WWE Smackdown: Dakota Kai turns on Bayley
As seen in the match on WWE Smackdown, Kai made no efforts to protect Bayley from a two-on-one assault by The Kabuki Warriors. Once Bayley finally fought off both the women and went for the official tag, Kai jumped off of the apron, leaving Bayley to be further assaulted by Asuka and Sane. Kai, later herself joined the assault on Bayley.
Bayley on WWE Smackdown has only joined the list of many victims of Kai. Most notably, Kai betrayed former teammate Raquel Rodriguez (then known as Raquel Gonzalez) on multiple occasions. The first time it occurred was at NXT Takeover 36 before it was followed up with another attack during Rodriguez’s “Trick or Street Fight” against Mandy Rose for the NXT Women’s Championship.
WWE Raw: Becky Lynch Has 2 Separate Wishes To Fulfill Before Retiring
Even before that, Kai infamously turned on then-friend Tegan Nox in the first-ever women’s WarGames match on NXT and put Rhea Ripley’s team at a disadvantage. With her latest move, Kai has now re-aligned herself with WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY, Asuka, and Kairi Sane on WWE Smackdown. Plus, this happening should also impact Bayley and SKY’s upcoming showdown at WrestleMania 40.
After staying out of action for almost a year, Dakota Kai made her return to action on last night’s episode of WWE SmackDown. This return was her first match since tearing her ACL in May 2023 where she turned on Bayley. Just a few weeks ago, Damage CTRL’s SKY and Sane turned on Bayley after the latter won the 2024 women’s Royal Rumble match via which she got to choose IYO SKY as her WrestleMania 40 opponent over the WWE Women’s Championship.
