Summary

Dakota Kai said the nearly year-long break she took after leaving WWE was less about setting a firm timetable and more about stepping away until wrestling felt right again.

While speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Kai said she did not want to rush into another opportunity after her WWE exit. Instead, she wanted to return on her own terms and reconnect with the part of wrestling she enjoyed.

That return finally came at EVE: Wrestle Queendom VIII in March 2026, when she wrestled Kris Statlander after being contacted about the show by Will Ospreay.

Quote from Dakota Kai

"I took almost a year off. I don't know, I think after leaving WWE, I didn't want to necessarily rush back into anything. I wanted to get back into wrestling on my terms and just find that passion and that love for it and just do it for fun. Basically, I wanted to do it for fun, and it was just a matter of the perfect time. Then when Will Ospreay hit me up. He's basically like, we'd love to have you on the show, here's what it is. When I found out I'm like wrestling Kris Statlander I'm like, oh my god, perfect. She's been on my bucket list for years, literal years. So it just worked out."

Kai later went on to say:

"It was weird, because during that time off, the longer I was away from wrestling, which was needed for me, personally, just mentally and emotionally, it was like the thought of wrestling again was looming over me. I have very severe performance anxiety, so the longer I was away, the more anxious I got about it. But then she made it so easy, she's the best."

Kai also said there was never a set end point for the hiatus:

"There was no real time limit of I want to be away for this amount. It was just more of a feeling, I guess. As soon as the opportunity came up that it was going to be there at that show on the big Wrestle Queendom show against Kris, I was like, Ah, this was meant to be. Yeah, it was cool."

Kai added:

"I mean, I just really needed to take a step back for me in terms of just finding the passion and the love for it again. I didn't mean for it to be a year. I know everyone was like, Why did you take a year off? I'm like, I didn't mean to, and for that to be that amount of time, I just kind of took the time I needed. Then when the opportunity came up to be against Kris, it was perfect."

What Dakota Kai's return could mean next

Kai framing the break as a needed mental and emotional reset suggests she was more concerned with making the right comeback than making the fastest one. That matters because a wrestler returning by choice, and in a match she specifically wanted against Kris Statlander, usually points to a more selective next stretch rather than an immediate full-time schedule.

Her comments also make Wrestle Queendom VIII feel less like a one-off curiosity and more like a carefully chosen re-entry point. If Kai keeps working matches after that return, the way she described the Statlander bout suggests she will keep prioritizing opponents and situations that help her rebuild confidence on her own terms.

Sources

Dakota Kai while speaking with Chris Van Vliet