Match Point is an on-going series at Last Word on Pro Wrestling, where we look at intriguing matchups in indie wrestling and beyond. They may be dream matches, first-time matchups, or hotly anticipated rematches, much like what today’s edition focuses on. This edition will take a look at former best friends set to go to war as Dakota Kai meets Tegan Nox in a Street Fight at NXT TakeOver: Portland.
In everyday life, best friends can fight. That is simply the truth. Fights happen when disagreements are made, one feels hurt, or simply they are both just not in a good mood. But in professional wrestling, they fight by brutalizing each other with one friend trying to end the career of the other by any means necessary. That brings us to this special edition of Match Point. A match that sees former tag team partners, but more importantly former best friends for life, want to bring so much pain to one another that they may never be able to wrestle and live their dream again. Ain’t it beautiful? Tegan Nox. Dakota Kai. NXT TakeOver: Portland in a Street Fight.
How We Got Here
If you have missed the past six months of NXT, or professional wrestling for that matter, you will be shocked at what is happening on Sunday. Last time you probably knew of anything, Tegan Nox and Dakota Kai were best friends. Whether it was on TV or in the back, that’s exactly what they were. To say there has been a lot of changes in six months would be an understatement, to the point where these two will now enter a match where they want to end each other. We got here because of NXT TakeOver: WarGames III, and because of the NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley, to be exact. It was time to pick teams and Kai was left off of Team Ripley while Nox was selected. Nox didn’t necessarily speak up on Kai’s behalf, but it also was not her decision to make.
Fast forward to the night of TakeOver: WarGames III. The first-ever women’s War Games match in history. Mia Yim was hurt early in the night, leading Ripley to have to select Dakota Kai on the spot to fill in for the team. This is where Kai made the decision with just her and Tegan Nox left in the cages to enter War Games. She turned her back on her best friend, beating her down and trying to take her career from her. She would remove the knee brace and beat her down, and use the door of the cage to destroy the surgically repaired knee of Nox and tried to end her career after essentially two years of recovery.
It took some time, but these two finally had a match that saw Nox walk out as the winner as she smashed Kai across the head with the brace before hitting her with the Shiniest Wizard. Kai beat Candice LeRae this past week and attempted to hurt her more before Nox ran in to make the save. These one-time friends will only try to bring pain to each other with no chance of finding friendship again.
Backstory: Tegan Nox
“The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and beautiful of them all,” Candice LeRae said while talking about Tegan Nox. Believe it or not, this will be the first major match that Nox will compete in for NXT. That’s even more incredible when you realize that she tried out to join WWE back in 2016. It hurts as a fan, and even more as a person. The grind to come back and reach this point of stardom is something that has been well documented and it has all been for this moment. The moment we thought she was going to have was taken away by Dakota Kai, so it’s only right she faces her former friend. As a fan of Nox, I can only tell Nox’s story to a certain degree but not enough. Here is one recommendation, watch the comeback videos.
It’s the setbacks that make people stronger. Captain Marvel notably inspired Nox, who is a sort of hero herself considering the fact that she has shown perseverance like no other. She was set up from greatness when she first stepped inside a WWE ring for the Mae Young Classic and was not able to finish. People may forget that she was rumored to win the whole thing because that is simply how special she is. At NXT TakeOver: Portland, she can set herself apart from the rest in the biggest match of her life to this point against someone she considered her best friend and maybe even a sister. Her former tag team partner that made up Team Kick. The road has been tough. But the toughest people can get through anything. Tegan Nox is one of those people.
Two massive knee surgeries. Comebacks that inspired young girls to grow up and chase their dreams no matter the setback. Captain Marvel may have been the woman to inspire her to get up and push through. But Captain NXT will be the one who steps in the ring on Sunday night to do exactly the same. We are all cheering for Nox. She is everything you want in the face of a brand, division, or company. Let it happen. That star will shine bright Sunday night.
Backstory: Dakota Kai
What happened? Dakota Kai was once in the same spot as Tegan Nox in the sense that she was the ‘girl next door’ type that anyone and everyone wanted to cheer for. Her past with Shayna Baszler set her up to be the one to eventually dethrone her. But instead, she brutalized her friend. What has been forgotten in all of this is that she was was injured too. She tore her ACL and got herself back to the point where she could have this wonderful comeback story alongside her best friend and former partner. That didn’t matter to her. Something clicked in her head and she has become more vicious, insane, and destructive when it comes to anyone who steps in front of her.
Now, she is coming in with a loss to Nox but that doesn’t matter to this new version of Kai. What does is that Nox doesn’t pursue her dream any longer. That’s what makes this match so exciting yet terrifying at the same time. Can Nox manage to survive Kai’s onslaught?
Final Stage: Street Fight
Career threatened. Friends attacked. This is as real as it gets for a feud. There is a reason that the Tegan Nox vs Dakota Kai match is on a TakeOver card and not just NXT. The NXT women’s division has taken the world by storm and these two are a huge reason why. For the first time in what feels like a long time, the women will have a second feature match. One that feels to have more importance to it than maybe any of the championships matches on the same card. A Street Fight means no rules. The only way to end the match is by pinfall, submission, or in these two cases, unable to continue. Nox and Kai will beat the life out of each other and travel around the arena until we find a winner. And if one is to guess, the hate is so real that being a winner may not matter to these two.
The last time we saw a feud like this was between Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano. We all know how that went, with those two trading wins and being the main event time and time again. There is no guarantee that Kai and Nox will be the main event, but there is a guarantee that there will be carnage between them and entertainment for all the fans. This bout should go at least 20 minutes, as this is going to show what both can do on the big TakeOver stage. Captain NXT vs Cap Kota. Street Fight. It all goes down at NXT TakeOver: Portland.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. WWE fan? Check out the WWE Network to fulfill all of your WWE needs!
