Dakota Kai Recalls Last Minute Talks With Triple H And Bayley Before WWE Return

Dakota Kai made a surprise return to WWE at the SummerSlam premium live event in July, siding with the returning Bayley and "NXT" call-up IYO SKY to form Damage CTRL. The reigning WWE Women's Tag Team Champion has now recalled the last minute talks she had with WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque and Women's Grand Slam Champion Bayley that brought about her return. 

"It's very strange because, obviously, I wasn't taking bookings, I was just chilling doing my streaming thing," Kai told the "Out of Character with Ryan Satin" podcast. "Bayley texts me on Thursday [before SummerSlam] and was just out of the blue. I mean, we talk. We text a lot, but this question was out of the blue, and she's like, 'Hey, out of curiosity, are you talking to anyone right now in terms of companies or anything like that?' And I said, 'Well, kind of, but why do you ask? Like, what is this question?'"

According to Kai, Bayley was putting together "a last-ditch attempt" at forming a new on-screen faction, an idea she'd been pushing for in preparation for her return from injury. Levesque had just taken over WWE's creative reigns following the resignation of Vince McMahon, and upon receiving Bayley's pitch, he asked, "What's Dakota doing?" Bayley went so far as to show Kai the screenshot of Levesque's response, and Levesque called Kai immediately.

"I've never considered myself to be like a top guy," Kai said. "So the fact that I was on his mind in terms of that idea, and the fact that I was the first to call back after he got in control of the company ... I was shocked."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the "Out of Character" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.