Vince Russo urges 36-year-old star to join AEW after sudden WWE firing

A fan-favorite from WWE's women's division who was released by the sports entertainment juggernaut recently could cross over to AEW if she wanted to, according to Vince Russo. The star in question, Dakota Kai, was let go by the company once before, over three years ago.

The 36-year-old had been missing from action since defeating Ivy Nile on a March taping of WWE Main Event. Towards the end of last month, she shared a social media post voicing her desire to wrestle. Fans were of the opinion that the Stamford-based promotion was waiting for Kai's teammates, Asuka and Kairi Sane, to return from injury before bringing her back to television, even though their other teammate, IYO SKY, is currently at the top of her division as WWE Women's World Champion.

Shockingly, it was reported a while earlier that 'King Kota' had once again been released by the Stamford-based company. Speaking to his co-host Mac Davis on BroDown, Vince Russo reflected on the impact such releases have on talent, albeit voicing confidence that Kai would find success in the independent circuit. He even speculated that the former Damage CTRL member could potentially end up in AEW.

"I know, bro. Dakota Kai can make a career for herself after WWE. There is no doubt about it. She could book herself every weekend on the indies. She can probably go work at AEW. But to them, they were in the show, and now they ain't getting back to the show, and that's very, very difficult for the talent," said Russo. [19:57 - 20:19]

Kai was previously released by WWE in April 2022, although she would be brought back months later.

Announcements for this week's AEW Collision

AEW will be rolling into Atlantic City, NJ, for this week's episode of Collision. The show is set to emanate from the Adrian Phillips Theater, and will air on TBS (instead of its usual network, TNT), besides streaming on MAX. Three matches have been announced so far for the program, namely:

Brody King vs. Josh Alexander
Harley Cameron vs. Megan Bayne
Toni Storm (c) vs. Kady Frost [Women's World Championship Eliminator match]

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It remains to be seen what Tony Khan and company have in store for fans en route to the promotion's upcoming pay-per-view, Double or Nothing 2025.

About the author

Anurag is an AEW writer for Sportskeeda Wrestling. He holds a BA and MA degree in English along with a TEFL certification to teach English. Before Sportskeeda, he worked as a Content and Correspondence writer at Nayabad Titas, a theater group. He has also worked as a English language tutor.

To ensure complete accuracy, he uses internet resources, social media platforms, and especially pieces composed by his peers to find solid, verified information that he presents as objectively as possible. Thanks to his academic background, he can research different subjects thoroughly.

Anurag's interest in wrestling began as a child. He watched RAW and Smackdown frequently from age 10 or 11 and was officially hooked by the YES Movement story in WWE heading into WrestleMania 30.

As a lifelong wrestling fan and lover of stories, Anurag would read news, articles, and other content about the talent and events he enjoyed watching. His understanding of the business continued to grow with time, and his interest in the art and sport of wrestling led him to pursue a career as a writer.

Apart from writing, he loves to read books, watch movies and television programs, play and listen to music, and write poetry and fiction.

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Edited by Anurag Mukherjee