When we last saw Dakota Kai she seemed the most at peace she's been in a long time. She was confident in her new partnership with Wendy Choo though understandably still a bit doubtful given her own flaws. NXT on March 1, 2022 has arrived. It's time for them to face Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta in a quarterfinal match of the 2022 Women's Dusty Classic Tournament. It is clear Dakota's nerves are running high, causing the voices in her head to take their toll on her into the opening moments of the match.

Once Dakota calms down she flawlessly performs alongside her new partner. They successfully pull off some impressive double team moves. Dakota even stomp-rallies the crowd a bit to get behind Wendy when her partner needs some momentum. Soon after in need of some momentum herself Dakota rallies the crowd with a Daphne scream then strikes Hartwell down with the Kaio-Kick. Wendy and Dakota successfully hit top rope moves on Pirotta allowing Dakota to pin the Australian powerhouse to score their first victory as a team.

Wendy embraces her new partner, and hopefully soon friend, as Dakota is in a stunned trance over the victory. Dakota is also clearly trying to get reacquainted with affection. As they stop next to the Dusty Cup that will be awarded to the eventual winning team, it's impossible not to notice once again Dakota's nerves running high. She clearly wants a new friend in Wendy and for them to achieve success as a team. However, there still exists the fear that once again as she sees it in her head: Success leads to the demise of friendship. Putting her fear aside for the moment, Dakota celebrates the quarterfinal victory with Wendy, managing a smile as she waves to the cheering crowd.

Later that night Dakota expresses her concerns to Wendy who tries to calm her partner down. Unfortunately, that is impossible to do after Wendy notes they must face Raquel Gonzalez and Cora Jade in the semifinals. Dakota's past is back to haunt her. Can she finally bury it?

Additional Information | Dakota Kai & Wendy Choo defeated Persia Pirotta & Indi Hartwell (5:21) in the opening round of the 2022 Women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament on WWE NXT March 1, 2022 at WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Kai and Choo filmed content prior to and after the March 1, 2022 episode of NXT for the March 3, 2022 edition of WWE Digital series What's NeXT. Mac was looking around the PC for Wendy to conduct an interview prior to the episode, eventually finding her sleeping in an elevator. There was no time to conduct the interview since the episode was about to start. Mac caught up with Wendy and Dakota after the episode. Wendy couldn't stick around since it was her bedtime. Dakota took a quick leave too, battling mind demons and still freaking out about the semifinal match.