Tag: charlie

Former Dakota Kai addresses WWE Intercontinental Championship rumors

Posted on by Vincent Verhei

Dakota Kai spent close to ten years wrestling for WWE, winning championships in NXT and on the main roster. But her biggest championship win never came to pass.

In January of 2025, in perhaps the biggest match of her career, Kai faced Lyra Valkyria in the finals of a tournament to crown the inaugural WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion. It was the second episode of Monday Night Raw to air on Netflix, and reportedly, Kai was at one point planned to win that match. 

Instead, Valkyria won and held the championship for 144 days. Kai lost the match, never again won gold with WWE and was released from her contract last March. 

Kai (who is now wrestling as Charlie on the independents) talked about that match in a conversation with D.S. Shin of Ring The Belle.

“She’s awesome too,” Charlie said about Valkyria. “We had such good chemistry and we never wrestled each other before—I don’t think any singles capacity at least. But, she’s amazing. … She’s insane. Everything she did was awesome.” 

Shin then asked Charlie about any plans to crown her as champion. “Things change all the time, you know what I mean?” Charlie replied. “Like last minute and I get that too but, I don’t know. I’m so happy for her.”

Since her release from WWE, Charlie has challenged Kris Statlander for the EVE International Championship and Shotzi Blackheart for the HOG Women’s Championship. 

She also hosts a show with the former Zelina Vega (now known as ZELVX) on YouTube. 

Former Dakota Kai announced for indie show during WrestleMania week

Posted on by Josh Nason

Charlie, the former Dakota Kai in WWE, will be in Las Vegas during WWE WrestleMania week as she will be in action for House of Glory.

Announced Thursday, she will be on HOG Culture Clash, set for Thursday, April 16 at the Pearl Theater inside The Palms. Her opponent was not announced.

After being released by WWE in 2025, Charlie returned to the ring this past weekend for the first time since March 2025 as part of EVE’s Wrestle Kingdom VIII, unsuccessfully challenging champion Kris Statlander. Will Ospreay gave her praise afterward and said he hopes she ends up in AEW.

The 37-year-old said afterward that she was nervous in her return to the ring:

“I had so much fun. And you know, being away from wrestling for as long as I was, obviously, I was very nervous. You know, just for me, going into stuff, but Kris (Statlander) made it so easy. Obviously, the crowd, you know what I mean. You know, it felt really good,” she said.

Former Dakota Kai was ‘nervous’ in her wrestling return

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

The former Dakota Kai has finally opened up and addressed her recent in-ring return against Kris Statlander.

Now, going by Charlie, the 37-year-old recently wrestled Eve International champion Kris Statlander at EVE 146: Wrestle Queendom VIII on March 8, 2026, in London. While she lost the match against Statlander, Kai recently opened up about it on her stream and revealed being “nervous” about the return.

“I had so much fun. And you know, being away from wrestling for as long as I was, obviously, I was very nervous. You know, just for me, going into stuff, but Kris [Statlander] made it so easy. Obviously, the crowd, you know what I mean, ” Kai said. “You know it felt really good.”

A former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion, Kai made her in-ring return after almost a year with her last match dating back to a win over Ivy Nile on March 24, 2025.

Will Ospreay hopes former Dakota Kai joins AEW

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The former Dakota Kai is back in the ring — and Will Ospreay would like to see her added to the AEW roster.

Now going by the name “Charlie,” Kai returned to pro wrestling on Sunday with a loss to Kris Statlander for Pro Wrestling Eve in London. Ospreay is heavily involved with Eve as a producer behind the scenes. And he sent out a tweet this morning saying he would like to see Charlie join AEW.

Charlie had been away from the ring for nearly a year before this return match. She was released from her WWE contract in May 2025 and took an extended break after that, working to rebuild her confidence and find her place in the wrestling world again. What’s next for her in wrestling remains to be seen. She streams regularly on Twitch and hosts a podcast with her former WWE co-worker Zelina Vega.

Sunday’s Eve event — titled Wrestle Queendom VIII — was held on International Women’s Day and featured women’s wrestlers from across the globe.

“Wrestle Queendom 8 was one of the greatest nights of my wrestling career,” Ospreay tweeted. “To have influence from so many promotions; British, Irish, European, Australian, Stardom, NJPW, Sendai Girls, Tokyo Joshi Pro & AEW. Thank you to all the front of house staff at the 02, EVE Staff & production team.”

Ospreay himself has been out of action since August 2025 due to a neck injury that required surgery. The hope is that he’ll be back for AEW All In 2026 at Wembley Stadium this summer.

Dakota Kai wrestles first match since WWE release

Posted on by Ian Carey

Dakota Kai, now wrestling as Charlie, took part in her first match since her WWE release on Sunday in London.

Charlie wrestled Kris Statlander for the EVE International Championship at Pro Wrestling EVE’s Wrestle Queendom 8 from indigo at The O2 in London, England. Statlander successfully defended her title, pinning Charlie after a series of Tombstone piledrivers.

The commentary team noted that Statlander’s repeated Tombstones may have been unnecessary.

It was Charlie’s first match on record since the March 24, 2025 WWE Main Event tapings held at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. She was part of WWE roster cuts revealed on May 2, 2025.

Last month, Charlie spoke about taking a break from wrestling following her WWE departure.

“I think I just really needed to take a step back and sort of rebuild myself in terms of confidence and what I thought about myself as a wrestler in this world. I didn’t really know if I still had a place in this world,” she said during an interview with Busted Open Radio.

https://twitter.com/ushigoroshi89/status/2030727309263524305

Will Ospreay reveals role in booking Kris Statlander vs. the former Dakota Kai

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

The former Dakota Kai will make her in-ring return later next month against AEW’s Kris Statlander, and Will Ospreay had a role to play in it.

On Sunday, March 8th, 2026, Kai, now known as Charlie, will make her in-ring return at Pro Wrestling Eve’s Wrestle Queendom 8 against the AEW Women’s Champion, Kris Statlander. Recently speaking to Grapple Theory, Ospreay revealed how he helped book the match and bring Kai into the mix.

“I wanted to try and find a wrestler that wasn’t attached to any other major company. I just had this moment, ‘Dakota Kai doesn’t work there now. I wonder if she’s free.’ I didn’t see anything because she doesn’t really post that much,” Ospreay said.

“I think she has a Twitch stream. I just dropped her a message and said, ‘What are the chances of making this happen?’ She got back to me right away. Super eager to do it. The back and forth between us was so good. She really wants to come to EVE and celebrate this huge show and really wanting to wrestle Kris Statlander.”

Since her release from WWE in May, 2025, Kai has been on a break from wrestling but regularly streams on Twitch as well as hosts a podcast with WWE’s Zelina Vega.

Pro Wrestling Eve’s Wrestle Queendom 8 is set to take place at The O2 in London, England.

Former WWE star Dakota Kai announced for indie return

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The former Dakota Kai is getting back into the ring.

Since her release from WWE back in May, Kai has been on a break from wrestling. That will be ending soon, though, with Pro Wrestling Eve announcing that Kai will be competing at its Wrestle Queendom VIII show on March 8, 2026. She is being billed as “Charlie” and is set to challenge AEW star Kris Statlander for the Eve International Championship.

Wrestle Kingdom VIII is happening on International Women’s Day in 2026. The show will be held in London, England at Indigo at The O2.

It remains to be seen if this will be Kai’s first match back or if she will be taking more bookings before then. During a stream on her “charliegirl” Twitch channel this September, Kai said she missed wrestling and would be returning after taking some time away.

“I miss wrestling, you guys. We’re going to get back into it,” she said. “It’s just one of those things where it’s been nice to have a little bit of a break. I’ve been doing it for a long time, longer than the last seven years I was with WWE, you know what I mean? So it is nice to take a step back… but I really do miss it.”

Along with streaming on Twitch, Kai co-hosts a podcast with WWE’s Zelina Vega.

Pro Wrestling Eve is a UK-based women’s wrestling promotion that has existed since 2010. Will Ospreay is involved with helping the promotion behind the scenes.

Wrestle Queendom is Eve’s biggest event. The name of the show is a takeoff of NJPW’s annual Wrestle Kingdom spectacular.