Personal Information
Full Name | Cheree Crowley |
Date of Birth | May 6, 1988 |
Nationality | New Zealand |
Birth Place | Auckland, New Zealand |
Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) |
Weight | 55 kg (121 lb) |
Current Team(s) | |
Theme Song | Kombat |
Debut | December 15, 2007 |
Family | Pat Crowly (Grandfather) |
Dakota Kai: A Brief Biography
Cheree Georgina Crowley is a New Zealand professional wrestler signed with WWE. She is best known for her work on the independent circuits as Evie and WWE as Dakota Kai. She is a former two-time NXT Women's Tag Team Champion and currently performs on RAW as a member of Damage Control. She is also a former WWE Women's Tag Team Champion alongside Iyo Sky.
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Early Life
Dakota Kai was born in Auckland, New Zealand on the 6th of May in 1988. She would go on to wrestle professionally at a rather young age. Kai made her pro-wrestling debut in 2007 in Auckland itself.
Professional Wrestling Career
Early Years (2007-2016)
In 2007, Crowley began her wrestling career and started working as Evie. She is a huge fan of Pokemon and applied it to her ring name. Crowley wrestled for several independent promotions in New Zealand and Australia before making her way to the American circuit.
In 2013, Crowley began wrestling for Shimmer. Over the coming years, she started working for Shine and Stardom wrestling. In 2016, she signed a deal with WWE.
WWE (2016-Present)
In 2016, she signed with WWE and was renamed, Dakota Kai. She entered the inaugural Mae Young Classic but was eliminated by Kairi Sane in the quarterfinals. In 2017, she began wrestling on NXT and feuded with Shayna Baszler. She spent the next two years in singles and tag matches and formed a team with Tegan Nox called Team Kicks.
In 2019, she joined Team Ripley at WarGames. However, she attacked Tegan Nox and abandoned the team. She began her feud with Nox when she defeated her in a street fight at TakeOver Portland. She aligned herself with Raquel Gonzalez. The two went on to win several matches and rivalries. In 2021, Kai and Gonzalez won the inaugural Women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
In March, they became the inaugural WWE NXT Women's Tag Team Champions. However, they lost the title in an hour to Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart. In July, Kai turned on Gonzalez and challenged her for the title. After a few failed attempts, she attacked Gonzalez and cost her the championship to Mandy Rose. At WarGames, Team Gonzalez defeated Team Kai.
In 2022, Kai began teaming up with Wendy Cho. The duo entered the women's Dusty Rhodes Classic and lost in the finals. After the tournament, Kai reunited with Raquel Gonzalez. At Stand and Deliver, they won their second NXT Women's Tag Team Championship. On NXT after WrestleMania 38, they lost the titles back to Toxic Attraction.
She made her WWE return at SummerSlam 2022, alongside Bayley and Iyo Sky. She and Sky then partook in the tournament to crown the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions and made it to the final before being defeated by Aliyah and Raquel Rodriguez in the finals.
At Clash at the Castle, the trio, now named Damage CTRL defeated Alexa Bliss, Asuka and Becky Lynch in a six-women tag team match. On the September 12, 2022 episode of RAW, Sky and Kai defeated Aliyah and Rodriguez to become the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions.
On the 31st October, 2022 edition of RAW, Alexa Bliss and Asuka defeated Damage CTRL to become the new Women's Tag Team Champions. At the Crown Jewel PLE, the IYO SKY and Dakota Kai won their titles back after defeating Alexa and Asuka. Damage CTRL, Nikki Cross, and Rhea Ripley will face Bianca Belair, Asuka, Alexa Bliss, and a returning Becky Lynch at Survivor Series at WarGames.
At Survivor Series 2022, she was a part of Team Bayley in a losing effort where Team Bianca defeated Team Bayley in a WarGames match after Becky Lynch scored the pin on her. She would then go on to enter the Women's Royal Rumble match where she eliminated a total of five entrants before being eliminated by Becky Lynch.
On the February 27, 2023 episode of RAW, Kai and Sky defended their tag team gold against Lynch and Trish Stratus. The latter defeated the champions with a little assist from Lita bringing an end to Damage CTRL's Women's tag team championship reign. Next week, Lynch, Stratus and Lita challenged Damage CTRL for a match at WrestleMania, and the challenge was accepted.
As of now, Dakota Kai, alongside Iyo Sky and Bayley, is scheduled to take on the trio of Lita, Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus at WWE WrestleMania Hollywood Night One in a six-women tag team match.
Dakota Kai's Championships and Accomplishments
Championship | Number of Times |
PWWA Championship | 1 |
PWWA Interim Championship | 1 |
IPW Women's Championship | 1 |
Shimmer Tag Team Championship | 1 |
Artist of Stardom Championship | 1 |
NXT Women's Tag Team Championship | 2 |
WWE Women's Tag Team Championship | 2, current |
Women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic | 1 |
Dakota Kai's Net Worth
According to various sources, the net worth of WWE Superstar Dakota Kai is around USD 3 Million as of 2023.
Dakota Kai's Family
She is of Irish and Samoan descent. Her mother is originally from a Samoan village. She has two younger siblings - a sister named Nyrene who is a Mixed Martial Artist, and a brother named Earl who is a DJ. Her grandfather Pat Crowley was a member of All Blacks where he represented New Zealand in 1949 and 1950.