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Dakota Kai is winning the NXT Women’s Title
The NXT Women’s Division is going to be instrumental in the Third Brand’s “war” with AEW on Wednesday nights, and it’ll come to the point where AEW will be forced to sign more women to their roster and showcase more women’s wrestling.
Io Shirai and Mia Yim set the standard high enough with their incredible non-title match; I am always blown away by how brilliant Shirai is in the ring.
But the NXT Women’s Title match between Shayna Baszler and Candice LeRae was even more special, with a gut-wrenching ending. I could feel hopes rising as Candice tried to beat Shayna with a rear-naked choke of her own, only to have the proverbial pin pop my expanding optimism when I saw Candice forced to tap out.
Baszler is the most dominant champion in wrestling right now. She has taken down the best of the best in the talented NXT Women’s Division, including Bianca Belair, Shirai, and LeRae. Those are three of the best wrestlers in WWE with unique skill-sets, and all three would be more than deserving of leading this division.
Yet Baszler stands tall, unbeaten in her second reign as the NXT Women’s Champion.
And at this point, it seems like there is only one woman who can end this incredible reign of dominance in NXT.
Dakota Kai returned to the ring last week from an ACL tear to defeat Taynara Conti in convincing fashion. Kai, if you recall, was bullied relentlessly by Baszler last summer when Baszler was rising to prominence having recently ended Ember Moon’s title reign. Baszler repeatedly crossed the line to impose her will on Kai, singling her out as an apparent weak link in the division.
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But Kai is no weak link. The leader of “Team Kick” is vicious inside the ring, and she has the tenacity and guile to defeat Baszler. Kai’s never-say-die attitude is matched by her pounding strikes; her kicks can change the complexion of a match in an instant.
Last year, Baszler bullied Kai to assert herself on the rest of the division, but, in doing so, she planted the seed for her own demise just when she was becoming her most dangerous.