“Caught Me Off Guard”: WWE Hall Of Famer AJ Styles Reacts To Kairi Sane’s Departure

WWE Hall of Famer AJ Styles has reacted to Kairi Sane’s departure.

Sane was among the 20+ wrestlers whose names featured on the list of post-WrestleMania releases.

Following her success in World Wonder Ring Stardom in Japan, Sane signed with the Stamford promotion, making her first appearance during the 2017 Mae Young Classic tournament.

She won the tournament, defeating the likes of Bianca Belair, Toni Storm, and Dakota Kai, before beating Shayna Baszler in the final, thus earning an NXT Women’s Championship match at NXT TakerOver.

Kairi made her NXT debut in October 2017. During her two-year stint on the developmental brand, she won the NXT Women’s Championship once.

Sane was also featured prominently on the WWE main roster, pairing her up with Asuka. Their team was called The Kabuki Warriors.

Between October 2019 and March 2020, the duo held the women’s tag titles for 171 days in their first reign together.

Sane left the company in 2021 after her contract expired, but returned to WWE in late 2023. She and Asuka won the tag titles again in 2024 and 2025.

She was also part of the Damage CTRL faction, debuting as a group at the 2022 SummerSlam, alongside Asuka, Dakota Kai, IYO SKY, and Bayley.

Following the disbandment of the group, The Kabuki Warriors remained together until Sane’s departure on April 24, 2026.

AJ Styles Comments On Kairi Sane’s WWE Release

At the time of her departure, Kairi Sane was involved in an active storyline with Asuka and IYO SKY.

On the July 28, 2025, episode of Raw, The Kabuki Warriors had teamed up with AJ Styles to take on The Judgment Day’s Dominik Mysterio, Raquel Rodriguez, and Roxanne Perez in a mixed tag team match.

Styles, who was recently inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, discussed Kairi Sane’s departure from the company on his The Phenomenally Retro podcast, admitting that he was caught off guard.

He also speculated about her future in wrestling, but did not have a concrete answer.

I think everybody’s a little confused. Asuka and her as a tag team, and then it just kind of- We don’t know exactly what the case is. I mean, that one caught me off guard as well because it was a great tag team thing. I feel like Kairi was doing her best work as of now.

I wish I had answers. I don’t have these answers for you guys. I don’t know what this means for her. I don’t know, if maybe if she done wrestling. Is she going to go back to Stardom? Like, what’s next for Kairi Sane? But I know that she was loved, and she was amazing. Yeah, I just hate that. [H/T: Fightful]