Damage CTRL | |
---|---|
Stable | |
Members | Dakota Kai Iyo Sky Kairi Sane Asuka |
Name(s) | Damage CTRL |
Billed heights | Dakota Kai: 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Iyo Sky: 5 ft 1+1⁄2 in (1.56 m) Kairi Sane: 5 ft 1 in (1.55 m) Asuka: 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) |
Combined billed weight | 492 lb (223 kg) |
Former member(s) | Bayley (leader) |
Debut | July 30, 2022 |
Years active | 2022–present |
Damage CTRL (pronounced "Damage Control") is a professional wrestling stable that performs in WWE on the Raw brand consisting of Dakota Kai, Iyo Sky, Kairi Sane and Asuka. The stable have held the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship three times, with Kai and Sky being two-time champions and Asuka and Sane (known as The Kabuki Warriors) being one-time champions. Sky is a former one-time WWE Women's Champion and was also the 2023 women's Money in the Bank winner, whereas former leader Bayley was the winner of the 2024 women's Royal Rumble.
At SummerSlam on July 30, 2022, Bayley returned after a year out of action due to injury, forming an alliance with the returning Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky (formerly known as Io Shirai) while confronting Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair after her title defense against Becky Lynch, resuming their feud and moving Bayley back to the Raw brand, also establishing both Kai and Sky as heels on the main roster. [1] [2] [3] According to Kai, the original plan was to have a stable consisting of herself, Tegan Nox and Candice LeRae. [4]
At Clash at the Castle, Bayley, Kai and Sky, now officially under the name Damage CTRL, defeated Belair, Alexa Bliss and Asuka, where Bayley pinned Belair, who was Raw Women's Champion at the time. [5] On the September 12 episode of Raw, Kai and Sky defeated Aliyah and Raquel Rodriguez to win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. [6] With the win, Kai and Sky became two of three (the other being Rodriguez) to have won the WWE and NXT Women's Tag Team Championships. Bayley continued her feud with Belair where she failed to win the Raw Women's Championship at Extreme Rules in a ladder match, [7] and at Crown Jewel in a Last Woman Standing match. [8] Despite Kai and Sky losing the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship to Alexa Bliss and Asuka after a 49-day reign, [9] they reclaimed the titles at Crown Jewel 5 days later. [10] [8] At Survivor Series: WarGames, Damage CTRL competed in a WarGames match, teaming with Nikki Cross and Rhea Ripley against Belair, Bliss, Asuka, Mia Yim and a returning Becky Lynch, but lost when Lynch pinned Kai after a diving legdrop from the top of the cage through a table. [11]
Damage CTRL then began a feud with Becky Lynch, with Bayley winning a one-on-one match against Lynch on the December 19 episode of Raw. [12] Two weeks later, Kai and Sky defeated Lynch and Michin in a non-title tag team match. [13] A rematch between Lynch and Bayley was scheduled to take place at Raw is XXX inside a steel cage, [14] but did not take place after Damage CTRL beat down Lynch before the match began. [15] At Royal Rumble, all three members of Damage CTRL entered the women's Royal Rumble match and scored five eliminations each, four of which were done as a team. Kai and Sky were eliminated by Lynch, while Bayley was eliminated by Liv Morgan. [16] The cage match was rescheduled for the February 6 episode of Raw after Lynch forced Bayley into accepting by physically threatening an injured Kai. [17] Lynch won the match after Lita prevented Kai and Sky from interfering. [18] On the February 20 episode of Raw, Lynch and Lita challenged Kai and Sky for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, which Bayley accepted on their behalf. [19] The following week, despite interference from Bayley, Kai and Sky lost the titles to Lynch and Lita after interference from the returning Trish Stratus, ending their second reign at 114 days. [20] The following week, Lynch, Lita and Stratus challenged Damage CTRL to a six-woman tag team match at WrestleMania 39, which Bayley accepted. [21] Damage CTRL would lose to Lynch, Lita and Stratus at Night 1 of the event. [22]
As part of the 2023 WWE Draft, Damage CTRL were drafted to the SmackDown brand. [23] On the May 12 episode of SmackDown, Bayley and Kai failed to win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship from Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. During the match, both Kai and Morgan suffered injuries, with Kai tearing her ACL and Morgan injuring her shoulder. [24] [25] Morgan and Rodriguez would relinquish the titles on the following week's episode of SmackDown due to Morgan's injury. [26] Bayley and Sky participated in a fatal four-way tag team match for the vacant title on the May 29 episode of Raw, but the match was won by Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler. [27]
On the June 9 episode of SmackDown, both Bayley and Sky qualified for the women's Money in the Bank ladder match. [28] At Money in the Bank, Bayley pushed Sky off the ladder when Sky was trying to grab the briefcase. Sky later handcuffed Bayley to Becky Lynch, another competitor in the match, to grab the briefcase and win the match. [29] On the July 8 episode of SmackDown, Sky attempted to cash in her Money in the Bank contract against Asuka for the WWE Women's Championship but was interrupted by Bianca Belair and Charlotte Flair. [30] At SummerSlam on August 5, Sky successfully cashed in her Money in the Bank contract on Belair to win the WWE Women's Championship for the first time. Kai made her first physical appearance since her injury to celebrate Sky's victory and from that point on made appearances in a managerial role while recovering from her ACL surgery. [31] On the August 25 episode of SmackDown, Sky successfully defended the title against Zelina Vega. She would also retain against Asuka on the September 22 episode of SmackDown, and against Charlotte Flair and Asuka in a triple threat match at Fastlane after interference from Bayley.
On November 4, 2023, at Crown Jewel, Kairi Sane made a surprise return to WWE after leaving the company in July 2020 to help Sky retain the WWE Women's Championship against Bianca Belair. [32] On the November 10 episode of SmackDown, Sane officially joined the group. Later that night, during a six-woman tag match pitting Damage CTRL against Belair, Flair and Sane's former Kabuki Warriors partner, Asuka, the latter betrayed her teammates to reunite with Sane, [33] and officially joined the group on the following week's episode of SmackDown. In the same episode, Sky issued a challenge to Belair, Flair, Shotzi, and Becky Lynch to a WarGames match at Survivor Series: War Games. [34] Damage CTRL lost the WarGames match, with Bayley taking the pin after being put through a table by Lynch. [35] On the January 26, 2024, episode of SmackDown, The Kabuki Warriors defeated Katana Chance and Kayden Carter to become the new WWE Women's Tag Team Champions. [36] This is their record-tying second reign as a team (their first reign under Damage CTRL) and Asuka's record-setting fourth reign individually as champion. The next night at Royal Rumble, Bayley, Asuka and Sane participated in the women's Royal Rumble match. Asuka and Sane were eliminated by Carter and Chance while Bayley won the match by last eliminating Liv Morgan. [37] [38] The following week, on the February 2 episode of SmackDown, Asuka and Sane attacked Bayley and kicked her out of the group. [39] Afterwards, Bayley declared she will challenge Sky for the title at WrestleMania XL. On the February 9 episode of Smackdown, Kai seemingly left the group to side with Bayley. However, on the March 1 episode of SmackDown, Kai revealed it was a ruse after refusing to tag in with Bayley against Sane and Asuka, and joined the rest of the group in beating down Bayley. [40] At Night 1 of WrestleMania XL on April 6, Kai, Sane and Asuka faced Belair, Jade Cargill and Naomi in a six-woman tag team match in a losing effort. The next night, Sky lost the WWE Women's Championship to Bayley, ending her reign at 246 days. [41] As part of the 2024 WWE Draft, Damage CTRL were drafted to the Raw brand. At Backlash France on May 4, Sane and Asuka lost the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship to Belair and Cargill, ending their reign at 99 days. [42] Asuka later revealed that she was suffering from knee injury for months and had successfully undergone surgery. [43] [44]
The stable turned face for the first time on the July 29 episode of Raw when they began feuding with Pure Fusion Collective (Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark and their newfound ally, the returning Sonya Deville). In early August, it was reported that Kai had to undergo surgery after suffering another knee injury. [45] On the August 19 episode of Raw, Sky and Sane teamed up for the first time since 2019 and faced Baszler and Stark and WWE Women's Tag Team Champions The Unholy Union (Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn) in a title match where the champions retained. [46] In September, Sane and Sky participated in the tournament to crown the inaugural Speed Women's Champion, where they both lost to eventual inaugural champion Candice LeRae at the tournament semifinal and final respectively. [47] On the October 14 episode of Raw, Sky and Sane failed to defeat WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Belair and Cargill for the titles after interference from NXT's The Meta-Four (Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson) from ringside. [48] The two teams faced each other on the October 22 episode of NXT to a no-contest after interference from Chelsea Green and Piper Niven. [49] On the following episode of SmackDown, the three brands' general managers announced that Belair and Cargill will defend their titles against Sky and Sane, Legend and Jackson, and Green and Niven in a fatal four-way tag team match at Crown Jewel on November 2, where Belair and Cargill retained their titles. [50] [51] Kai returned from injury on the November 11 episode of Raw, where Damage CTRL defeated PFC in a six-woman tag team match. [52]
* | Founding member(s) |
---|---|
L | Leader |
M | Manager |
Members | Joined |
---|---|
Dakota Kai [a] | July 30, 2022 * |
Iyo Sky | July 30, 2022 * |
Kairi Sane | November 10, 2023 |
Asuka | November 17, 2023 |
Member | Joined | Left |
---|---|---|
Bayley (L) | July 30, 2022 * | February 2, 2024 |
Affiliate | Members | Tenure | Type |
---|---|---|---|
The Kabuki Warriors | Asuka Kairi Sane | 2023–2024 | Tag team |
Pamela Rose Martinez is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Bayley. Her 380-day reign as WWE SmackDown Women's Champion, tied with Rhea Ripley, stands as the longest in the championship's history.
Alexis Cabrera is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs under the ring name Alexa Bliss. As of January 2023, she is inactive due to maternity leave.
Cheree Georgina Crowley is a New Zealand professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Dakota Kai, and is a member of Damage CTRL. Crowley is a former two-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion with Iyo Sky. She is also known for her time in NXT, where she won the inaugural Women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, and is a former two-time NXT Women's Tag Team Champion.
Gionna Daddio is an American professional wrestler and actress. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Liv Morgan. She is a member of the Judgment Day stable and is the current Women's World Champion in her second reign. She is also the inaugural WWE Women's Crown Jewel Champion and a former two-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion with Raquel Rodriguez.
Nicola Glencross is a Scottish professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Nikki Cross and is a member of The Wyatt Sicks faction. In WWE, she is a former one-time Raw Women's Champion, a three-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion, and an 11-time and final WWE 24/7 Champion.
Bianca Nicole Blair Crawford is an American professional wrestler and fitness and figure competitor. As of April 2016, she is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Bianca Belair. She is one-half of the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions alongside Jade Cargill in their record-tying second reign as a team. Belair is one of two women to win at a WrestleMania main event and her 420-day reign as Raw Women's Champion stands as the longest in the championship's history.
WrestleMania 39 was the 39th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place as a two-night event on April 1 and 2, 2023, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California—the original location of WrestleMania 37 before the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to be relocated. WWE wrestler The Miz and rapper Snoop Dogg served as the hosts for the event.
The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling women's tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is the only women's tag team championship in WWE, thus is defended across both main roster brand divisions, Raw and SmackDown, and the developmental brand, NXT. The current champions are Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill from SmackDown, who are in their record-tying second reign as a team and second reign for each individually. They won the title by defeating The Unholy Union at Bash in Berlin on August 31, 2024. Due to an injury incurred by Cargill, Naomi is filling in for her as of December 13, 2024.
The 2023 Royal Rumble was the 36th annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on Saturday, January 28, 2023, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas as part of the Alamodome's 30th-anniversary celebration. It was the fourth Royal Rumble event to be held in San Antonio after the 1997, 2007, and 2017 events and the third to take place at the Alamodome, following 1997 and 2017. It was also WWE's first event to be livestreamed on Binge in Australia following the merger of the WWE Network under Binge in the country.
The 2022 SummerSlam was the 35th annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on Saturday, July 30, 2022, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, marking the first and only SummerSlam to not be held during the month of August. This was also the first WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event following the retirement of WWE owner Vince McMahon, who had served as chairman and chief executive officer of the company since 1982. McMahon announced his retirement on July 22, eight days before SummerSlam. However, he returned as Executive Chairman on January 10, 2023.
The 2022 Survivor Series: WarGames was the 36th annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on Saturday, November 26, 2022, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. It was the fourth Survivor Series to be held in Boston after the 1993, 2008, and 2013 events. It was also the first Survivor Series to take place on a Saturday and the first since the 1994 event to not take place on a Sunday. This was also the last WWE pay-per-view event to take place before Stephanie McMahon announced her resignation as co-CEO and Chairwoman of WWE, with Vince McMahon subsequently returning as Executive Chairman. It was also WWE's final pay-per-view to be available to livestream on the standalone version of the Australian WWE Network before the launch of Binge's WWE Network channel in Australia on January 23, 2023. Additionally, this was WWE's first pay-per-view to be livestreamed on Disney+ in the Philippines.
The 2023 Survivor Series: WarGames was the 37th annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on Saturday, November 25, 2023, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, marking the third Survivor Series to be held at this arena after the 1989 and 2019 events. It was the second Survivor Series to include the WarGames concept after it was first introduced to WWE's main roster with the 2022 event, and as a result, it was the fourth Survivor Series to not feature a traditional Survivor Series match, after the 1998, 2002, and 2022 events.
The Kabuki Warriors are a Japanese professional wrestling tag team consisting of Asuka and Kairi Sane. They are both currently signed to WWE, where they perform on the Raw brand and are members of Damage CTRL. They are former two-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champions, with their first reign being the longest in the title's history. Asuka was a former one-time Raw Women's Champion and had won the women's Money in the Bank as part of the team.
The 2022 Extreme Rules was the 14th annual and final Extreme Rules professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on Saturday, October 8, 2022, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the first Extreme Rules event to be held in October and on a Saturday, as well as the second Extreme Rules event to take place at this venue after the 2019 event. The concept of Extreme Rules is that the event features various hardcore-based matches.
WrestleMania XL was a 2024 professional wrestling event produced by WWE. It was the 40th annual WrestleMania and took place as a two-night event on April 6 and 7, 2024, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and featured wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. This was the second WrestleMania to be held in both the city of Philadelphia and state of Pennsylvania, after WrestleMania XV in 1999.
The 2022 Clash at the Castle was a professional wrestling event produced by the American promotion WWE. It was the inaugural Clash at the Castle and took place on Saturday, September 3, 2022, at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. This marked WWE's first major stadium event to take place in the United Kingdom since the 1992 SummerSlam and the company's first UK PPV overall since Insurrextion in 2003. The event's title was a reference to Cardiff Castle, situated near the Principality Stadium. An event was not held in 2023 but it was scheduled to return in 2024 in Scotland.
The 2022 Crown Jewel was a professional wrestling event produced by the American company WWE. It was the fourth Crown Jewel and took place on Saturday, November 5, 2022, at Mrsool Park in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as part of Riyadh Season. This was the second Crown Jewel to be held at this venue after the inaugural 2018 event, which was held there when it was previously referred to as King Saud University Stadium. The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and featured wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. It was the eighth event that WWE held in Saudi Arabia under a 10-year partnership in support of Saudi Vision 2030.
Raw is XXX was a professional wrestling television special of WWE's weekly television series, Monday Night Raw. The special episode was held on January 23, 2023, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was broadcast live on the USA Network. It was a commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the program's debut in January 1993 as well as the final Raw before the 2023 Royal Rumble event. The event set a financial record for the company, becoming the highest-grossing domestic gate in Raw's history.
The 2023 Crown Jewel was a professional wrestling event produced by the American company WWE. It was the fifth Crown Jewel and took place on Saturday, November 4, 2023, at Mohammed Abdu Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as part of Riyadh Season. This was the second Crown Jewel held at this venue after the 2021 event. The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and featured wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. It was the 10th event that WWE held in Saudi Arabia under a 10-year partnership in support of Saudi Vision 2030.