Cheree Georgina Crowley, better known as Dakota Kai in the WWE, isn't just a star wrestler. She's also a big video gamer and has a Twitch channel with over 16,000 followers. She's a huge comics fan as well, and she has some ideas to bring some more geeky designs into the ring. She recently made a heel turn, so she's on the lookout for new gear.
Kai is currently signed to WWE and performs on the NXT brand. She recently expressed interest in bringing her love for comics and video games into her future gear. Kai was super excited about the Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart game coming to PS5, and said in an interview with ComicBook that Clank's gear looked "so cool" as an option for ring apparel. Clank is a tiny robot with enormous green eyes and a red antenna, which could be incorporated into gear in a ton of different ways.
The wrestler is also a self-professed huge fan of the Saga comic series, and is considering bringing inspiration from it into the ring. However, she expresses concern that the series isn't "mainstream" enough for most fans to understand the reference, and that if she does use Saga-inspired gear, it would have to be "subtle." Iconic wrestlers throughout the last few decades like The Undertaker, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, and "Macho Man" Randy Savage have dressed like one would expect celebrities with those ring names to dress. Kai, like most pro wrestlers, just wants to be able to connect to her audience in a way they understand.
However, wrestlers like WWE Superstar Ember Moon have incorporated "nerdy" concepts like Dungeons and Dragons into their wrestling personas, and many fans are able to pick up on and connect with these kinds of inspirations. Moon's persona is based off Drizzt Do'Urden, a character from a fantasy book series. If Moon can capitalize on the tabletop gaming renaissance, maybe Kai could incorporate subtle references to an "underground" comic book series into her persona.
Kai acknowledges that no matter how far off the mainstream her inspiration is, the most important audience member is herself. She says "I have to like whatever I'm doing myself too." Recent wrestling stars haven't been shy about expressing their interest in sharing in pop culture phenomenons, like Paul "Big Show" Wight's opinion that he'd be a "shoe-in" to play Marvel's Kingpin. At the end of the day, Kai has to like her own gear and persona as much as she wants fans to.
Dakota Kai continues to perform as WWE presses on with its events during COVID, so her new gear and look could be coming soon. Whether she incorporates Clank, Saga, or something else, it's sure to be interesting.
Source: ComicBook