Charlie, formerly known as Dakota Kai in WWE, has revealed just how last-minute the formation of Damage CTRL truly was, describing a frantic 48-hour window between being contacted about the idea and walking through the curtain at SummerSlam 2022.
Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Charlie explained that Bayley had been pitching the concept of an all-women’s faction for years, even assembling a group photo at the Performance Center with her, IYO SKY, Raquel Rodriguez, and Alba Fyre at one point in an attempt to sell the vision. Nothing came of that initial pitch. Then, two days before SummerSlam, a text changed everything.
“That whole thing came out of the blue. It was probably two days before SummerSlam, and Pam, Bayley, just texts me out of the blue. She’s like, ‘Hey, I just pitched this to Hunter.’ I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’ So she was talking about an all-women’s faction for years, like, since I was starting at NXT, she’d always been pitching this idea of, ‘I want an all-women’s faction. Think this would be so cool. I hope we get the chance.’ And then the year before SummerSlam, we actually were at the Performance Center. It was me, IYO, Bayley, and also Raquel and Alba Fyre, and we were taking photos together as a female unit to try and have Pam basically pitch to Hunter and be like, ‘Hey, this is what I want. This.’ Nothing really came from that. But then she texts me a few days before SummerSlam, ‘I pitched it again, I really want you to be a part of this.’ And even at that point, I’m not with the company. I’m like, ‘Yeah, right, dude. You really think this is gonna happen?’ And then next thing, it happened,” Charlie said.
She also described the chaos of the day itself, including being hidden in a bus with black curtains as the show was underway.
“I was in the mindset of doing things away and outside the company. That’s a big deal to try and fall into that space of being mentally out of there, and then Hunter sent a message I think it was the day before, basically confirming that he loved her idea and that it was going to be Bayley, IYO and myself. Holy shit, I need to pack, because it’s the day before, and get my hair done, there’s too much to do. And then, yeah, the day of is very chaotic, just hiding in a bus. I’ve never been in that position where I’ve had to be hidden before. I thought that was so cool, because you always see it happen with others, where they have a surprise and they’ve been hiding in the bus or wherever during the day. So we got that, and they took us over to Gorilla in a golf cart that had black curtains on the side,” Charlie said.
She also revealed the origin of the Dakota Kai ring name, noting she wanted something with a tomboy feel for the first name and chose Kai as a nod to her Samoan roots and Pacific Islander heritage. The name was the first she pitched and was quickly approved.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Insight with Chris Van Vliet with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
