WWE fans have a lot to look forward to tonight thanks to NXT’s The Great American Bash, which is loaded with big-time matches. That includes a match that will set the course for the Women’s Division via a No. 1 Contender Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match, which will have Dakota Kai, Mia Yim, Candice LeRae, and Tegan Nox all vying for the chance to challenge Io Shirai for the NXT Women’s Championship. All four stars have a shot at taking that next step towards Championship gold, though there are many who feel like it’s Kai’s time to ascend and grab that Championship title. ComicBook.com recently had the chance to talk to Kai all about the big match, as well as what her Championship run would look like, teaming up with Raquel Gonzalez, her love of Twitch streaming, and how her change of character has affected her career.
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First up though we wanted to know about the Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match, specifically how having four people in the ring affects the challenge of telling a compelling story in a match.
“Well like you said, having more people than just the two in a match, it is more challenging but in a good way,” Kai said. “So you really get to be creative with how you’re able to tell the story and how you’re able to pull that off in the ring. I love it, and I know the girls that I’m working with tonight, as we’ve all come from the independent scene. I’ve known them for a long time and I’m just really excited to see how we can tell a story because I know each and every one of them is capable of doing so. It is a little bit of a challenge, but it is a good challenge to have, because you have the advantage of being able to do things that a regular singles or a tag wouldn’t be able to, and with the addition of the four-way being an elimination, we get to have fun with that as well.”
Because Kai, Nox, Yim, and LeRae have worked together so often, there is always the risk of a match being too repetitive or formulaic. That’s why they try and push the envelope a bit when they meet up in the ring on NXT, and that is definitely the goal with their match at The Great American Bash as well.
“The women in this match I’ve faced multiple times before in NXT and on the independent scene, so I guess we would want to try and push the boundaries of what we can do, as opposed to sticking to the tried and true,” Kai said. “I didn’t mean for that to rhyme, but it did. I think the fun and the creativity of that is because we’ve done things before, we don’t want to just put out a carbon copy of something, and the fans are smart, so they’ll be able to see all that stuff. We’d rather try and see what we can do that’s fresh. No one wants to see the same old, same old again and again and again. It is hard for us to branch out like that, but it is a good challenge.”
If Kai wins and goes on to beat Shirai, the Kai NXT Champion era would officially begin. If it does, don’t expect her to be giving out any easy challenge opportunities to just anyone, and don’t expect her reign to end anytime soon either. “Oh yeah. They’ll probably have to jump through a few hoops I’d imagine,” Kai said. “Probably some of those hoops involving Raquel and maybe some others perhaps, we’ll see. When I get the NXT Women’s Championship, it’s going to be a long reign.”
Kai really reached a turning point in her career in NXT after her big transformation at TakeOver: WarGames, which had her turning on her team and brutally attacking Tegan Nox, stealing her knee brace in the process. While some thought the change might be coming, the manner in which it happened still managed to shock fans, and she’s continued that momentum ever since.
“Well since the WarGames thing happened…because a lot of people predicted that I would ‘turn heel’ at WarGames and there were many teases and hints and things like that, but I think with how the actual turn happened, it shocked a lot of people,” Kai said. “Which is cool, because I still want to keep them sort of surprised as opposed to giving everything away. I mean, that’s half the reason why we watch, to have that surprise and shock factor, and rolling off of that was really cool, and now that I have Raquel, it’s been like such a cool creative boost for me.”
Gonzalez adds to Kai’s arsenal in the ring, but she’s also had an impact on Kai’s evolving character.
“Before I had her, I was kind of just rolling with it. I wasn’t too creative,” Kai said. “And I’m like, ‘Well, I can’t just be angry all the time? What’s my point?’ Then with the addition of her, it took everything to a whole new level, and a lot of people have really grown to come around to the idea of us being a team, and not just her being a manager. She can freaking go in the ring too. She’s such a beast, so I think that has been the coolest thing, and going forward, it offers a lot more creative outlets for us too.”
When Kai isn’t taking down opponents in the ring, she loves to hang out with her fans while streaming games on Twitch, and she’s built up quite a following. Kai was streaming well before her big character change, but despite the move to a villain on TV, she hasn’t changed her approachable style on Twitch or with her fans overall.
“Well, a lot of people know that what we play on TV is just a character, you know what I mean? The fans, at the end of the day, are the reason why we get to do what we do, so there’s no reason,” Kai said in regards to changing her demeanor or style on streams. “I mean here and there when it’s necessary, if I’m promoting something for example, for sure, I would be in character because that’s what I’m promoting. But on my Twitch channel, everyone sees what I’m like as a person. Everyone that tunes into Twitch or sees me retweet artwork or those cool videos that you talked about. I don’t even know how they do that. They are so talented, and I give appreciation to them and just let them know that they are the reason that we get to do what we do. They see what I’m like. I can’t really be like, ‘No, screw you. I’m actually me.’ Like whatever, you know what I mean? They see my personality through other outlets.”
You can catch Kai’s ascent to the top of NXT on tonight’s The Great American Bash Night 1, which airs on the USA Network at 7 PM Central. You can also see her streaming her favorite games on her Twitch channel right here.
Do you want to see Kai get her shot at Championship glory? Let us know in the comments or as always you can talk all things NXT by hitting me up on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
