WWE: Kairi Sane Shows Her Killer Instinct, So Is Shayna Baszler Ready?

At WWE NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV, Kairi Sane will get a chance to defeat Shayna Baszler for the second time in her career, but “The Queen of Spades” has grown since the finals of last year’s Mae Young Classic. With the prestigious NXT Women’s Championship on the line, Sane must give Baszler all she has. It’s a damn good thing, then, that Sane has a killer instinct in her.

Words like “adorable” and “wholesome” are used to describe Kairi Sane, but maybe “bad-ass” and “fierce” would be more appropriate for the “Pirate Princess”. While Sane is a heroic babyface who displays kindness to her fans and wins the right way, she also has plenty of fire inside of her. Taking her lightly is a huge mistake, as any of her opponents inside the squared circle can attest to her toughness and ability to inflict pain. (Just ask Lita.)

On last night’s episode of WWE NXT, Sane faced Aliyah and won with Shayna Baszler watching on commentary. That wasn’t necessarily the big story, though, because you’d expect Sane to win, even on the show’s go-home episode before TakeOver: Brooklyn. While Aliyah is a solid competitor who is often under-appreciated, she rarely wins and clearly isn’t on Sane’s level at this stage.

What was notable, however, was how Sane won. She could have put this match in the big with ease, but she instead decided to toy with Aliyah. Instead of pinning Aliyah directly after one “Insane Elbow”, Sane decided to go a more sadistic route with Shayna on commentary.

See, Baszler is a bully, and, as a bully, she likes to cut down her future opponents verbally and assault them physically. She’s used these tactics to great effect on Dakota Kai, Candice LeRae, and former NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon.

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But Sane isn’t going to let Baszler get in her head. Instead, she may have gotten into Baszler’s head last night by hitting Aliyah with three “Insane Elbows” to pick up the win. She even picked Aliyah off the mat at “two”, staring down Shayna to really rub it in.

Baszler seems to think that Sane is soft. She said that Sane lacks a killer instinct, downplaying the Mae Young Classic I winner’s accomplishments by viewing her as a “Pirate Princess” with her head stuck in fantasy land. Last night, however, Sane got the upper hand in the mental game, and it’s clear that she has the capability to beat Shayna once again.

NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV features some of the most exciting matchups of the year, as Johnny Gargano will face Tommaso Ciampa in a Last Man Standing match for the NXT Championship, Ricochet will square off against North American Champion Adam Cole, Velveteen Dream will likely end his rivalry with EC3, and Moustache Mountain and the Undisputed Era will have their blow-off for the NXT Tag Team Championships.

Amongst all those incredible matches, Sane vs. Baszler stands as one with show-stealing potential, even on a stacked card. These two have so much history after last year’s matchup, and they’ve been telling a long-term story about how Sane can be the one to finally end Baszler’s reign of terror atop the NXT Women’s Division.

Sane didn’t just toy with Aliyah in that match either. She used some devastating submission holds, giving Baszler something to think about while she sat there gloating on commentary. Baszler is known for her submissions, but Sane showed that she can play that game, too. While Baszler tried to keep up her aura of confidence, she was clearly rattled by Sane’s effective submissions, as well as the “mean streak” that she showed later.

Baszler vs. Sane is definitely a match to watch this Saturday at TakeOver, and there’s no question the whole arena will be on their feet for the former STARDOM ace. Sane has been brilliant since signing with WWE, and this has a chance to be both hers and Shayna’s best performance in WWE NXT to date.