No reported change in Kairi Sane’s WWE status despite fan backlash
Kari Sane was among the many names WWE released last weekend.
According to PWInsider, Sane’s WWE release has not been revoked despite social media trends calling for a change in her status with the company. The report also claims that Sane has returned to her home country, Japan, effectively ruling out any possible appearances on Raw.
Sane and Asuka were feuding with IYO SKY on Raw, especially after Sky’s association with Rhea Ripley. Asuka opposed her alliance with Ripley which led to their long term feud in 2025.
Sane started her wrestling career at Wonder Ring Stardom in 2011, where she commenced training. Her first stint with WWE was from 2017 to 2021. She competed for a couple of years on NXT before forming The Kabuki Warriors with Asuka. Sane returned to WWE in 2023 and joined Damage CTRL along with Dakota Kai, Bayley and Sky. When the group split up, The Kabuki Warriors focused on their pursuit of the Tag Team Titles. They won the titles in November last year and held gold for 55 days before Ripley and SKY ended their title reign in January this year.
SKY wrote a supportive note for Sane after the announcement of her WWE release. #WeWantKairi started trending on social media shortly after her name was confirmed to be in the list of stars let go by the company.
The stars released by the company include Aleister Black, Zelina Vega, Apollo Crews, Santos Escobar, Zoey Stark and more.
Rosanne Raphael is a wrestling writer with over three and a half years of experience covering all things related to the industry. From a kindergarten teacher to PR Associate to turning her lifelong passion for the industry into a career, Rosanne is currently writing for F4W Online where she focuses on wrestling news, analysis, and storytelling.
Rosanne previously contributed to Sportskeeda as an Assistant Content Manager.
When not consumed by wrestling, Rosanne is a musician and an aspiring artist.