DAKOTA KAI

Cheree Georgina Crowley is a 35-year-old wrestler from Auckland, New Zealand. Crowley is signed with the WWE and performs on RAW.

Crowley started her wrestling career in December 2007 for Impact Pro Wrestling under the ring name, Evie. In September 2011, she debuted for Australia-based Pro Wrestling Alliance Australia (PWA Australia) where she defeated Kellie Skater. The following August, she became the first ever Impact Pro Wrestling NZ Women’s Champion, defeating Britenay and Megan Fox in a triple threat match. A week later, she won the Interim PWWA Championship by defeating Jessie McKay in the finals. She retained the title during her first defense against Kellie Skater on October 6th. In 2013, she also made her debut for Shimmer Women Athletes and Shine Wrestling.

Beginning in January 2014, Evie wrestled in Japan for a three month contract with Pro Wrestling Zero1. From 2015 to 2016, Crowley wrestled for the Japanese promotion, World Wonder Ring Stardom. In her first match she won the promotion’s vacant Artist of Stardom Championship alongside Hiroyo Matsumoto and Kellie Skater. They lost the title to Io Shirai, Kairi Hojo, and Mayu Iwatani in their third defense on February 28 2016.

Crowley’s WWE Contract & Debut

Crowley’s first WWE NXT match was in October 2015 under the ring name, Evie, in a losing effort to Nia Jax. On December 15, 2016, she signed a contract with WWE and a few months later, WWE announced that she would be a participant in the Mae Young Classic tournament under the ring name, Dakota Kai. In the first round of the Mae Young Classic, Kai defeated Kavita Devi and Rhea Ripley in the second, before being eliminated by Kairi Sane in the quarter-finals.

As Dakota Kai, she made her WrestleMania debut in 2017 competing along with several other NXT women in the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal. She also participated in a WrestleMania Axxess tournament which she would go on to win, earning herself a match for the NXT Women’s Championship. But, she was eventually defeated by newly crowned champion Shayna Baszler. A month later, she earned herself another title match but was unsuccessful.

Dakota Kai Wrestles for NXT & NXT UK

While wrestling for NXT, Kai also worked for NXT UK. In October, she took part in the first ever all women’s pay-per-view, Evolution, where she unsuccessfully challenged Rhea Ripley (in a dark match) for the NXT UK Women’s Championship. After a brief absence, Kai returned to action at NXT TakeOver: WarGames in November 2018. Kai and Io Shirai helped Kairi Sane during her match with Shayna Baszler by attacking Baszler’s allies, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir. They continued to feud for a few months after the match.

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In January 2019, Kai announced that she suffered a torn ACL during a NXT live event in December. As a result, she would be out of action for a few months. When Kai returned to NXT, she teamed back up with Tegan Nox. In October 2019, they unsuccessfully challenged The Kabuki Warriors for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship.

Dakota Kai’s Main Roster Debut

Dakota Kai made her main roster debut in November 2019. In January 2020, she entered her first Royal Rumble match, entering at number 15, but was unsuccessful after being eliminated by Chelsea Green.

At NXT TakeOver: Portland she beat Nox in a street fight and she then teamed with Candice LeRae and Gonzalez in a losing effort against Nox, Mia Yim and Shotzi Blackheart in a six-woman tag team match at NXT TakeOver: In Your House.

On the August 5 episode of NXT, Kai defeated Rhea Ripley to become the number one contender for Shirai’s championship at NXT TakeOver 30. Kai was unsuccessful in capturing the title at NXT TakeOver: 30.

Kai & Gonzalez Win Dusty Rhodes Classic

Dakota Kai and Raquel González teamed up and competed in the first ever Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. In the final, they defeated Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon for the win. With this victory, Kai and González earned a shot at WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. The match ended in controversy on the March 3rd, 2021 episode of NXT after Kai was pinned despite not legally being in the match.

On the March 10th NXT episode, Kai and González were awarded the newly created NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships by General Manager William Regal, marking Kai’s first championship in the WWE. Later that night, Kai and González lost the Championship to Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon.

Dakota Kai Turns on Gonzalez

After González won the NXT Women’s Championship at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, tension began to show between the two as González began displaying more face tactics. On the July 27 episode of NXT, Kai turned on González. Kai then grabbed the title belt and kneeled down over Gonzalez, thus ending the alliance between the two.

At NXT: Halloween Havoc, Kai returned as the mysterious person to cost Raquel González the NXT Women’s Championship to Mandy Rose in a Trick or Street Fight match. On the Roadblock edition of NXT, Kai and Wendy Choo defeated Raquel Gonzalez and Cora Jade to Advance to the NXT Women’s Dusty Cup tournament finals.

On the Roadblock edition of NXT, Kai and Wendy Choo defeated Raquel Gonzalez and Cora Jade to advance to the NXT Women’s Dusty Cup tournament finals. However during the match, Toxic Attraction injured Gonzalez and Kai began to show signs of a face turn when she was reluctant to win the match in that sort of way. Kai and Choo would end up losing in the finals to the team of Io Shirai and Kay Lee Ray.

Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez Reunite & Win Gold

On the March 29, 2022 episode of NXT 2.0, after Toxic Attraction took out Wendy Choo, Dakota Kai attacked the group and assisted by a returning Raquel González, whom Kai embraced afterwards. This completed her face turn for the first time since November 2019. It was then announced that Kai and González would take on Toxic Attraction members Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship during the Kickoff pre-show of NXT Stand & Deliver. At the event, Kai and Gonzalez defeated Toxic Attraction to win the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships for a second reign.

Dakota Kai’s Release from WWE

Kai was released by WWE on April 29, 2022. She had reportedly expressed to the company that she was not planning on renewing her contract prior to her release.

On July 30, 2022, Kai re-signed with WWE and made her return at SummerSlam alongside Bayley and IYO SKY (formerly Io Shirai), with the three being allies. She officially joined the RAW brand as a heeland made her debut for the brand the following night. At her debut on RAW, she attacked Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, and Asuka alongside Bayley and Sky.

Dakota Kai & IYO SKY Win Tag Team Titles

On the September 12th episode of Monday Night RAW, Dakota Kai and IYO SKY defeated Aliyah and Raquel Rodriguez to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship. On October 31st, Kai and SKY lost the tag team titles to Asuka and Alexa Bliss. But five days later, Damage CTRL regained their titles at WWE’s Crown Jewel pay-per-view event in Saudi Arabia.

The rivalry between the two trios ended at Survivor Series WarGames on November 26th, where Damage CTRL, Rhea Ripley, and Nikki Cross lost to Belair, Asuka, Bliss, Mia Yim, and Becky Lynch in a WarGames match. Kai then entered the women’s Royal Rumble match in January 2023. She eliminated five wrestlers before being eliminated by Becky Lynch. On the February 27 episode of RAW, following interference from Trish Stratus, Kai and Sky lost the titles to Lynch and Lita, ending their second reign at 114 days.

As part of the 2023 WWE Draft, Kai, along with stablemates Bayley and Sky, was drafted to the SmackDown brand. On the May 12th episode of SmackDown, Kai and Bayley lost their match for the Women’s Tag Team Championship against Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. During the match, both Kai and Morgan suffered injuries. Kai tore her ACL and Morgan injured her shoulder. Kai made a physical appearance for the first time since her injury at SummerSlam to celebrate Sky’s WWE Women’s Championship victory. Dakota then began to appear regularly in a manager role for Damage CTRL until she was medically cleared for in-ring competition.

Damage CTRL Drafted to RAW

On the February 9th episode of Smackdown, Kai saved Bayley from Damage CTRL and was briefly kicked out of the stable as a result. However, on the March 1st episode of Smackdown, where Kai and Bayley were set in a match against The Kabuki Warriors (whom had subsequently joined Damage CTRL) Kai betrayed Bayley and rejoined the stable in the process. On Night 1 of WrestleMania XL, Damage CTRL (Kai, Asuka, and Sane) were defeated by Belair, Naomi, and Jade Cargill in a six-woman tag team match.

During night 2 of the WWE Draft in April 2024, Kai was drafted to WWE Raw, with the rest of Damage CTRL.

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STATS

Birth name: Cheree Georgina Crowley
Born: May 6, 1988, Auckland, New Zealand
Height: 5 ft 6 in (167 cm)
Weight: 121 lb (55 kg)
Ring name(s): Dakota Kai, Evie
Current Roster: WWE RAW
Finishing move(s): Double Foot Stomp

Dakota Kai’s Social Media:

Dakota Kai Photos

Career Championships and Accomplishments

Pro Wrestling Women’s Alliance
- PWWA Interim Title Tournament (2012)
- Pro Wrestling Women’s Alliance Championship (1 time)
- PWWA Interim Championship (1 time)
Impact Pro Wrestling
- IPW Women’s Championship (3 times)
Shimmer Women Athletes
- Shimmer Tag Team Championship (1 time)
World Wonder Ring Stardom
- Artist of Stardom Championship (1 time)
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
- NXT Women’s Championship Invitational (2018)
- Women’s Tag Team Championship (2 times)
- NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship (2 times, inaugural)
- NXT Year-End Award (1 time)
- Future Star of NXT (2019)