March 6, 2025. Buffalo, New York. KeyBank Center. WWE Main Event. Another chapter in the long-running rivalry between Dakota Kai and Zoey Stark has been written. The war between Damage CTRL and Pure Fusion Collective may have ended, but Zoey Stark & Shayna Baszler still hold a grudge against Damage CTRL for getting more opportunities than them.
The last time prior to March 6, 2025 that Kai and Stark fought one-on-one, Dakota defeated Zoey to advance to the finals of the Women’s Intercontinental Championship Tournament. This time, it’s a momentum builder for King Kota who has her sights set on both Ivy Nile and the Women’s Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria. The Buffalo fans were solidly behind their Captain, giving her extra motivation to successfully build that momentum with a win over Stark. But as Kota knows, one does not simply walk into a win against Zoey Stark. The Sniper made that clear from the opening bell, grabbing and ramming Kai into the corner.
Dakota reverse whipped Zoey to the opposite corner, followed by a monkey flip. Zoey landed on her feet, arrogantly shrugging the flip off. Zoey’s arrogance got the better of her, turning around into a discus forearm. Stark pulled Dakota into the middle turnbuckle. Zoey boot choked Kai. A cheap shot to Kai from Stark’s tag team partner and here corner woman Shayna Baszler the cameras missed. How much did Shayna pay them to cut that out? Lots more choking from Zoey followed by a textbook suplex. An unimpressive kip up from Zoey.
Zoey’s Irish whip was reversed. Kai with two arm drags followed by a jumping takedown. Dakota charged at Zoey, tripping her and sliding herself to the floor. Kai grabbed Stark by the legs and spun her around into a pump kick. Dakota got up on the apron, trying to lift Zoey up. But Stark cut her off, grabbing her foot and tripping her face first to the apron. Stark hit a slingshot crossbody to the outside, crashing Kai to the cold hard floor. Back in the ring, Stark stayed in control with punishing offense including a bodyslam.
Kai took control, sending Stark to the apron. Furious blows to the back followed by a gamengiri. Kai hit the ropes running for a modified Kaio-Kick, but Stark cut her off with that sniper missile dropkick for two. Zoey got Kai to the corner, smacking the hell out of her chest with an open-handed slap. That evil Shayna Baszler grinned at her long-time adversary crumpled in the corner in sheer pain. Zoey repeated it, this time with even more stank on it as they say. Stark expected cheers but Buffalo is Kota Country so they jeered.
Zoey went for a third murder slap. Dakota ducked, firing back at Zoey with a few open-handed slaps of her own. You could say The Captain was feeling a bit Slap Happy. Yeah, yeah, see what I did there? Moving on. Two clotheslines and a dropkick sent Zoey to the corner. The running facewash. Kaio-Kick. Kairopractor. The crowd was going crazy for The Captain. Dakota went for a pin but Zoey kicked out at two. Stark fought off GTK, catching Kai with a rolling death valley driver. Kai caught a superkick, rolling Zoey up for two.
A second superkick attempt from Zoey struck Kai. The tornado kick to the back of Kai’s head kept her down for two. Zoey lifted Dakota up for a powerbomb which Kai reversed into a code red. I wonder who Dakota picked that one up from? Zoey held onto the ropes, blocking an Irish whip and pulling Kai into a half and half suplex, turning Dakota inside out. Double Ouch! The murder knee flush. Quadruple Ouch!!! Stark covered Kai thinking she had it, but Dakota kicked out to the relief of the crowd, and this Chronicler.
Zoey put Dakota up on the top turnbuckle for offense. Kai pushed Zoey off. Zoey fired back, smacking Kai with a gamengiri. Stark climbed to the second rope, slapping Kai across the chest and insisting whatever pain awaited her she asked for by fighting on. Zoey got so wrapped up in her own bullshit that Dakota slipped down, wrenching Stark’s hand so hard The Sniper’s head smashed into the top turnbuckle. Dakota lifted Zoey onto her shoulders, striking her to the canvas with GTK. 1-2-3. And Your Winner is Dakota Kai.
The crowd went wild for that hard-fought, hard-earned win for Dakota. Of all the singles matches she’s had against Zoey, this one was the most brutal, long hill to climb. Every bit of King Kota’s victory was fought for, her elbow shedding blood in the process. An emotional Dakota climbed the ropes, expressing gratitude to the crowd for being her Team to her Kick that on this evening kept in her in the fight, the result a much-needed win to get her momentum going for her pivotal battles to come.
Additional Information | Dakota Kai defeated Zoey Stark (7:59) on WWE Main Event March 6, 2025 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York.
