WWE NXT: Dakota Kai must be Rhea Ripley’s first big challenger

The reign of WWE NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley may have only just begun, but it’s already clear that Dakota Kai needs to be her first big challenger.

WWE NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler was the cornerstone of the brand’s women’s division during every moment of her 416-day reign, a record second only to Asuka’s mind-boggling 522-day reign as NXT Women’s Champion.

However, Rhea Ripley finally broke that reign and did the seemingly impossible by dethroning Baszler.

The match itself, which main evented the most recent episode of NXT, was nothing short of magnificent. Ripley and Baszler gave career performances and told a truly special story in the process. The anticipation for Ripley was palpable.

Finally, after somehow surviving Baszler’s infamous Kirifuda Clutch, Rhea Ripley was able to plant her with an Avalanche Riptide to become the new NXT Women’s Champion. The crowd erupted in appreciation of the match they’d just seen and the culmination of Rhea Ripley’s journey to the NXT Women’s Championship.

That journey was severely shaken back at NXT TakeOver: WarGames. Going into the event, Rhea Ripley was set to lead a WarGames team that included Candice LeRae, Tegan Nox and Mia Yim against then-NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler, Io Shirai, Bianca Belair, and NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray.

Of course, that plan was quickly altered after Mia Yim was ambushed backstage. With Yim taken out, Ripley needed a replacement and Dakota Kai was right there to fill the void. Ripley chose Kai, who initially seemed hesitant, but Ripley put her faith in the leader of Team Kick.

Of course, we’d find out later that night that such faith was sorely misplaced. In a jarring moment, Dakota Kai suddenly turned on her team and destroyed Tegan Nox at their holding cage prior to being released into the WarGames Match. Kai’s vicious attack left Nox unable to compete and Kai simply walked away once the damage had been done.

This left Rhea Ripley alone with Candice LeRae in a two-on-four WarGames Match against Baszler, Shirai, Belair and Ray. The odds felt insurmountable, but Ripley overcame them and pinned Shayna Baszler to win WarGames.

The very next night, Rhea Ripley led Team NXT to victory at Survivor Series despite another numbers disadvantage throughout most of the contest.

With heaps of momentum at her back, Ripley barreled into a collision with Baszler just days ago and walked out as NXT Women’s Champion. Meanwhile, Dakota Kai has already made it clear what her ultimate goal is.

Last week, Dakota Kai took on Mia Yim to settle the issues created by Kai’s ambush of Yim at WarGames which ultimately removed her from that event. Using every opportunity she had to get an edge, Kai was able to defeat Mia Yim.

However, Yim’s post-match attack put Kai through a table and caused her to need eight staples in her head.

Despite that injury, Kai isn’t backing down at all from her goal of becoming NXT Women’s Champion. We’ll hopefully see her taking on various other members of the division in the coming weeks, potentially even superstars from NXT UK as the build heats up to Worlds Collide.

All Dakota Kai needs is a few more key wins and a little momentum, and she’ll find herself face to face with NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley.

Everything that started back at NXT TakeOver: WarGames will culminate with that championship confrontation, and hopefully it’s one we see sooner rather than later.