bayley dakota kai iyo sky — Photo Credit: WWE

Dakota Kai Reveals The Origins Of ‘Damage CTRL’ Name

September 8, 2022

Dakota Kai says it’s all about control.

During an appearance on WWE’s The Bump, Dakota Kai shared how Damage CTRL came up with their name. Kai, Bayley and IYO SKY had always thought “control” would be part of it due to their goal for the WWE’s women’s division.

“I think we from the very start, we were throwing around the word control. I think that’s something that we wanted to establish within the division, just because it seems like it had kind of off the rails for a bit. So we had this common goal, between the three of us, that we wanted to take control, to control the division, to control whatever it was that we could get our hands on, basically. It kinda did [become a mess], and we wanted to basically control it again, and I think ‘Damage CTRL’ was just something that came to mind, and we all agreed on it. That’s just kind of how that sort of started. But yeah from SummerSlam, we were throwing around the idea of control.”

Kai also spoke about teaming with Bayley, noting how they’ve been on similar paths for quite some time.

“We had the same sort of arc too I think in NXT. I think someone kind of mentioned that we all kind of went to the dark side the same year, all three of us. So we were just in tune with each other. We figured out the cute stuff’s over.” she explained. “I don’t know if there was a specific moment, but obviously you know when someone is as skilled as they are, like you don’t have to really think about that. That’s just something that I knew from a long time ago, even before you worked with the company, I would get asked from coaches like hey, who do you think we need to bring in, and she was at the top of the list. That was before she was signed, and then you started having NXT dark matches or whatever, and next think you know, she’s here. So I’m like she’s mine. It might have taken seven years, but she’s mine.”