Dakota Kai Opens On WWE Release and Return to Wrestling

Dakota Kai Explains Year Away From Wrestling After WWE Exit

Dakota Kai, now going by Charlie, has opened up about her extended time away from wrestling following her WWE release in May 2025. Speaking with Chris Van Vliet on Insight, she explained that the break was not planned, but came from a need to recover both mentally and physically before returning.

Charlie said she did not want to rush back into wrestling and instead waited for the right moment and opportunity.

“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 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,” Charlie said.

The opportunity to face Kris Statlander became the turning point. She confirmed that match helped bring back her excitement for wrestling after time away.

She also spoke about the anxiety she experienced during her absence, revealing that it became harder to deal with as more time passed.

“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. 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. 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,” she added.

Charlie returned to the ring on March 8, 2026, at Wrestle Queendom. Her last WWE match took place on March 24, 2025. Since returning, she has also competed against Shotzi Blackheart during WrestleMania week.

Her comments offer a clear look at the challenges she faced during her time away and how she found her way back to the ring on her own terms.