Kairi Sane's Best WWE Matches
Last week we saw Kairi Sane officially depart with the WWE and
a heartfelt social media post left us all a little emotional! Now, it's clear
that things could have been even better for Kairi and while I hope she does
make a return to the company in the future I want to spend today taking a look
back at her three year WWE run discussing some of the best moments and matches!
Today I have seven of my favourite WWE Kairi Sane matches with a few mentioned
of other bouts that really showcased how damn great this woman is!
Vs Tessa Blanchard (Mae Young Classic)
The first time WWE fans got a glimpse into what Kairi Sane
was all about is was back at the Mae Young Classic back in 2017 when she faced
off against Tessa Blanchard in the first round. Now, I remember watching and being
so mad at the fact this match had been booked for the sheer fact that both
women should have advanced and were fan favourites for so many but the booking
of this one on one made it the most must-see and anticipated arguably of the
whole tournament. The expectations were exceedingly high for this encounter and
the two did not disappoint although I did wish this was a little longer. We saw
the strengths of both women throughout and it was clear how evenly matched the
pair were. Both women felt like major stars and the spots performed here left
the crowd loud and stunned and what we saw here was genuinely two of the best
female stars in the wrestling world today.
Vs Shayna Baszler (Evolution)
There is so much history between Shayna Baszler and Kairi
Sane and they stand out as the best rivals of each other’s WWE careers. Each
time the pair have stood in the ring with one another they have delivered to a
high standard and brought out the best in each other and so picking an all-time
great from their rivalry was not easy but one of my personal favourites has got
to be their NXT Women’s Championship bout at Evolution. This match highlighted
just how well the pair know one another with clever counters to each other’s
moves and clean spots that got a huge reaction from the live crowd. There was a
greater intensity in this match than we had seen in previous collisions between
them and a great deal of character work that told the classic story of an
ultimate heel vs ultimate babyface. The strengths of both women were on display
and the involvement of Marina and Jessamyn added to the entertainment and feel
of the match. Not to mention this bout saw Baszler make history as the first-ever two-time NXT Women’s champion.
The Kabuki Warriors vs Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch
While Kairi Sane didn’t have many opportunities on the main
roster to really show how good she truly is there were a few solid tag team
encounters during her run on Monday night RAW with the TLC collision between
herself and Asuka against Lynch and Flair going down as one of her best PPV
performances. The match was totally different to anything we had previously
seen from Sane in the WWE with her creativity explored in a more intense and barbaric
contest. This was also the match we saw the most character work from Sane and
arguably the most entertaining content. Her teamwork with Asuka was incredible
and the unique moments and spots really took this match to a new level. It was
a bout that highlighted the hard work The Kabuki Warriors had put into the tag
team division and how effective that hard work had truly been.
Vs Toni Storm (Mae Young Classic)
The Mae Young classic shone a bright light on the incredible
talent throughout women’s wrestling and we saw some amazing matches with one of
the highlights being Toni Storm vs Kairi Sane. The two women were not all too
aware of how the other worked, not sharing a ring together prior to this encounter
and so the first half of this match was slower paced as we saw the pair feel
each other out and get an understanding of what the other is bringing to the
table and adjusting to their new opponent. The match grew with intensity as we
sat back and watched, and it became clear just how much the win here meant to
both women. There were different styles being represented on each side and both
women looked fantastic throughout. Again, they were evenly matched and the
strengths of both were on clear display. This can also be noted as one of the
best pure wrestling matches in Sane’s WWE run as we really saw just how damn good,
she is.
*And let's not forget Kairi vs Bianca Belair during round 2
of the Mae Young Classic!
The Kabuki Warriors vs Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross
One of the best tag team title defenses for the women’s
division most certainly took place at this year's Wrestlemania only a few months
back! With The Kabuki Warriors taking on Bliss and Cross the four women proved
that timing and simply being given an opportunity is all they need to impress
and these women walked away with a Mania standout and a match the division truly
needed. Sane brought a great deal of character here in this contest as we saw one
of her most entertaining showings where she truly stole the spotlight. Each
woman had their highlight moment during this match but it was time for former
Champions Bliss and Asuka to take a little seatback here and while they played
a huge role of course Nikki and Kairi had career highlight performances that
put a huge spotlight on them and their talent. This is a seriously underrated match
I most certainly advise you go back and re-watch.
*The Kabuki Warriors also worked an awesome tag team encounter
against Team Kick on an episode of NXT.
Vs Io Shirai vs Bianca Belair vs Shayna Baszler (NXT Takeover New York)
One of the most underrated NXT matches in history has got to
be the fatal four-way between Kairi Sane, Io Shirai, Bianca Belair, and Shayna
Baszler. All four women had an amazing history and were so aware of each other and
we could really see all the little stories being told throughout. We had a mixture
of styles on display and this was by far one of the most thrilling and
entertaining matches we had seen from Sane. Her team worth throughout the match
IO saw some epic spots performed and the story being told between them from
working together to preventing each other from scoring the win and looking back
it’s a shame we didn’t get to see more between these two for when they did go
up against each other, there were some incredible moments and natural chemistry.
This is one of my personal all-time favourite NXT Title bouts and the
performance was Sane was simply brilliant.
*This is not the only time Sane wowed in NXT fatal four-way
action when she alongside Billie Kay, Ember Moon, and Nikki Cross took part in a
brilliant collision at Takeover War Games.
Vs Shayna Baszler (Takeover Brooklyn IV)
No one has brought out the level of Baszler quite like Kairi
Sane and as we mentioned earlier the two have competed in so many fantastic
matches but another personal favourite and arguably their best collision comes
from Takeover Brooklyn IV. For the first time, we saw emotion from Baszler and
more personality than ever before. Sane looked to match Baszler in the world of
submission holds but the way in which Shayna punished Sane made for something
hard to watch! The heart of Kairi was evident and the chemistry and spots we
saw here meant this was a standout of the night and both women’s careers. It
was on this night we saw Sane become champion also!
As I mentioned in the intro, I truly do hope we get to see
Kairi back in the WWE one day and those endless dream matches become a reality!
The three years she spent in the WWE saw Sane work some incredible matches as
we have spoken about today yet there were still more contests we could have included!
Now, I would of course, love to know what you guys think and what your
favourite Kairi Sane WWE match so feel free to leave a comment or tweet me over
at @TezangiVictoria.
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I enjoyed her. She was a true athlete. Long live the pirate.
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