Survive. That's what Dakota Kai would have to do if she were to win the Ladder Match to determine the #1 Contender for the NXT Women's Championship. April 8, 2020. Full Sail. Winter Park, Florida. WWE NXT. This ladder match was originally scheduled to take place at NXT TakeOver: Tampa Bay on April 4, 2020 but the CO-VID 19 Pandemic put a stop to Live Events with crowds for a time. A few of the planned matches took place on NXT Television including the #1 Contender Ladder Match.
Five other competitors including three former friends who were now bitter enemies stood in Dakota's way of ascending the ladder and grabbing the briefcase containing the contract for a championship match. Tegan Nox, Mia Yim, Candice LeRae, Io Shirai and Chelsea Green. Nox, Yim and LeRae didn't just want to win the match, they wanted The Captain's blood. Kai would find no temporary ally in the psychopathic Io Shirai. This incarnation of Shirai wasn't the same woman whom Dakota had befriended years prior on her first tour of Japan and reunited with in NXT in 2018. Chelsea is always out for herself and herself only, completely void of the concept of temporary alliances.
Fortunately, Kai had an ever-present ally in her acquaintance, the six foot amazon Raquel Gonzalez. A ladder match has no disqualification so Raquel could freely assist Kai including in bringing a ladder into the ring. Unfortunately, Yim and LeRae put a stop to Raquel's try in the early going. Kai took a few steps back to rethink strategy as Mia and Candice closed in on her for an attack... only to bump into Nox who was standing behind her grinning like ole Cheshire. Kai shrugged off that rethink, throwing the first shot at Nox before getting mauled by the trio.
As the match progressed, Raquel would make another attempt to assist Kai by helping her climb up the ladder at a point when Dakota was reeling. That damn Mia put a stop to it. Dakota would battle on, however victory on that night would belong to her former friend Io Shirai. But for Dakota, there was at least some satisfaction for not only did Nox not win, it was Kai Kaio-Kicking Tegan off the apron through a bridged ladder that took her former bestie out of play.
NXT April 8, 2020 Screen Captures
GIFs From This | TW: None For These
Touch it for Luck | Tegan 1 | Tegan 2
King's Blessing | Dakota | Lurking
Trapped | Candiball | Game of Tag
Sluggers | Bop & Butt | Chokeslam
No Chelsea | The Stop at the Top
Table Payback | Crash Test Tegan
Additional Information | Io Shirai defeated Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, Tegan Nox, Mia Yim & Chelsea Green (11:51) in a Ladder Match to decide the #1 Contender for the NXT Women's Championship. It aired on the April 8, 2020 episode of WWE NXT taped at Full Sail Live in Winter Park, Florida.