Dakota Kai highlighted the challenges of portraying a heel in WWE.
The WWE Superstar recently spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard about her tenure with the company. Dakota began her run as a babyface but portrayed a heel for several years beginning in 2019.
Dakota explained that her personal favorite part of WrestleMania weekend was getting a chance to meet fans and hear their feedback. She noted that it’s sometimes hard to gauge an audience’s response online, but seeing them in person gives her a better idea of how they feel.
“Oh my gosh, I think it’s meeting all of the fans because we have a lot of opportunities to do that. I get to go to WWE World today, so I think that just overwhelms me because I don’t know how I view myself in terms of someone that others look up to,” Dakota Kai explained. “But then when I go to events like this, I see all of the people that support me and I get messages from online. You don’t really know who these people are until you see them in person, so I think it’s that, actually seeing [the fans and meeting them].”
Does Dakota Kai see herself as a babyface?
Dakota Kai pointed out how she was positioned as a bad guy for a few years, but recently returned to WWE as more of a fan favorite. When explaining her “rough patch” as a villain, Dakota said she feels like being a babyface is a little more authentic to her personality.
“I went through a bit of a rough patch there, for a few years. We all go through our ups and downs,” Dakota noted, calling back to her “heel” run in WWE and NXT. “I guess for me, because when I started NXT in 2017, that’s the path I started on, and then I went through my heel era, I think in 2019, with the Women’s War Games match in NXT.
“And from there, it was a long time, five years of being that. For me, I’m naturally very bubbly and personable. I want to get to know people, I love being ‘this’ [current persona]. It’s more organic to be this character, if we want to put it in those terms,” she added. “For me, being a heel was definitely more challenging in terms of going down that path. But I think this feels more organic to me. I hope it comes off as that too, and doesn’t [feel inauthentic]. And that’s why I love streaming, too. I get to talk to people on a different level, outside of this.”
Watch our full interview with Dakota Kai below:
Read More: Dakota Kai: Do You Know How Much Ladders Hurt When No One’s Cheering For You?
