When is Dakota Kai expected to return to WWE from her injury? Potential timeline

Dakota Kai suffered a nasty injury during the Women’s Tag Team Championship match on the May 12, 2023 episode of WWE SmackDown. Dakota tore her ACL in the same match that saw Liv Morgan suffer a shoulder injury.

Dakota Kai’s injury could cost her a significant amount of TV time. It usually takes up to nine months to come back from an ACL tear. So she could return any time during the build-up to Royal Rumble or WrestleMania 40, depending on how her recovery goes.

Dave Meltzer provided some notes in regard to Dakota Kai’s injury on WWE SmackDown 10 days ago. The veteran journalist said that Dakota’s injury came moments after Liv Morgan hurt herself during the tag team title match.

”The injury took place in the same match on May 12 that Liv Morgan was injured in with Raquel Rodriguez & Morgan vs. Kai & Bayley for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles. The word was that she was injured after Morgan suffered her shoulder injury and the knee injury came in a spot where she knew Morgan was hurt and was trying to protect her.”

Raquel Rodriguez relinquished the titles in the wake of her partner’s injury. A fatal four-way match will take place next week on WWE RAW to crown the new Women’s Tag Team Champions. Raquel will also be in action on SmackDown this Friday.

Dakota Kai’s injury could trigger Damage CTRL’s implosion

WWE has been teasing a Damage CTRL split for weeks now. The trio has repeatedly failed to get a convincing win over the babyfaces on both RAW and SmackDown. For those unaware, Damage CTRL were drafted to the blue brand as part of the WWE Draft 2023.

With Dakota currently out of action due to her ACL injury, Triple H could use her absence to split her from Bayley and IYO SKY. The stable has struggled to get back their momentum ever since they arrived on WWE SmackDown.

It remains to be seen how The Game will book Bayley and IYO SKY moving forward.

How would you book the stable? Let us know in the comments section below!