Former NXT Women’s Champion and forever Pirate Princess Kairi Sane was one of the names sent to Smackdown Live as part of this week’s Superstar Shake-Up. While her on-screen exit from NXT came with violence, her real-life exit came with tears. So many tears.
In the following video posted on the WWE Performance Center YouTube channel — which you should absolutely be watching on the regular, and what should be the basis for Smackdown Live’s “backstage” segments when it goes to Fox in the fall — Kairi says goodbye to familiar faces like Io Shirai and Candice LeRae, then shares a heartbreaking goodbye with one of her best friends, Xia Li.
“I’m happy for her, and also I feel so sad, because I can’t like, always see her in Orlando.” Us too, Xia. Us too.
I think the saddest line comes from Sane herself, when she explains her friendship with Xia Li. “Sometimes we feel lonely, because [we’re] from a different country. But we always help each other.”
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Kairi Sane is one of our most precious natural resources, and should be protected at all costs. And hopefully when Xia Li gets the call-up, it’ll be to the same show as Kairi.
