During the WWE Draft a few weeks back, several of NXT’s brightest stars were called up to the main roster, including Kiana James. James was assigned the red brand but little has been seen of her since then, other than a being spotted in the background of segments and a video package hyping up her debut. On WWE Raw, James faced Natalya in her main roster debut, making sure to explain what a huge moment it is, especially facing a veteran like Natalya. She further dove into why her debut took longer than the rest of the call ups, but James simply wanted to get acclimated to the women’s locker room on Raw.
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The match was a short one but it definitely did the job and made a statement for the rising star. James was able to avoid getting put into the Sharpshooter, instead landing her own finisher, the 401(K) and laying Natalya out flat on the mat for the win. Although Natalya lost, it clearly set something off inside her. She was seen muttering to herself when cameras and Sonya Deville caught up with her. She insisted that “enough is enough, it’s time for a change,” the same phrase Owen Hart used prior to joining the Nation of Domination.
James’ professional wrestling career is still pretty young. The 27-year-old first debuted in AEW in 2021 against The Bunny in a fairly quick match. She’d go onto have three other appearances on the now defunct Dark before appearing in NXT in the beginning of 2022. In her short career, she’s challenged for various championships including the NXT Women’s Championship.
Additionally, she and Fallon Henley are former co-holders of the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships. At the time of the WWE Draft, Shawn Michaels made sure to send positivity to the former champion. “Every time she steps between those ropes, @kianajames_wwe gets better and better,’ he wrote on X. “She knows how good she is, and now she gets to show how good she is every Monday Night. #WWERaw #WWEDraft.”
She also received high praise from NXT commentator Booker T who noted she “checks all the boxes.”
“In this business, they gotta be able to trust you. Trust you to go out and be able to perform, trust you not to get hurt more importantly than anything. I think Kiana James checks off all those boxes,” Booker said on his podcast, The Hall of Fame.
“I’m excited for Kiana James, because I really feel like she’s ready for this moment. I feel like she’s matured in NXT to the point to where she has been ready for this moment for quite some time… Kiana James is going to be great as a pro, and she’s gonna set a lot of records, big time” (h/t: Wrestling Inc).
