Before Dakota Kai signed with WWE in 2016, she honed her craft on the Independent scene in New Zealand and the United States along with touring Japan for two stints.
Speaking to Taylor Wilde on Wilde On, Kai recalled her experiences in Japan.
"My first tour, which came in 2014, I didn't go to STARDOM, I got invited to go to [Diana]. It was a lot of older girls that ran the promotion. One of the girls who took me under her wing was Sareee, who just got signed and I haven't seen her in seven years. She looks the same, still looks 16 years old to me. I was there for three months and it was such a cool experience because I got the real stereotypical Japanese experience. I was in the dojo every day, cleaning, getting beaten up in every match. It was such a cool experience. My second tour, which was 2016, before I [got signed by WWE], I was there for three months and worked STARDOM as well as Sendai Girls, which is Meiko Satomura's promotion. STARDOM is such an amazing promotion to be a part of and at the time [Io Shirai] was top dog and you're learning from these really cool and awesome women. [Kairi Sane] as well," said Kai.
Sareee recently signed with NXT and will debut soon under the name Sarray.
As for Kai, she is aligned with Raquel Gonzalez, who will challenge Io Shirai for the NXT Women's Championship at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver. You can view the current lineup for NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver by clicking here.
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