Kairi Sane has opened up about how and why she chose to bring her four-year WWE tenure to an end last December.

During a recent conversation with Entame Next (h/t DamieN62 from Reddit for the translation), the former NXT Women's Champion -- who moved back to her native Japan after parting ways with WWE -- said that the Covid-19 pandemic gave her more time to reflect on her career goals.

"After I moved to the U.S., my personal life was secondary to my professional life, and I was flying around and competing four times a week without a break, but then the pandemic hit, and I suddenly had time to myself," KARI recalled. "Then I took the time to do some introspection. I thought, 'Where am I going to go from here? I had a sense of accomplishment that I had fulfilled my promise to my best friend and that I had done everything I could in my three years with WWE, and after several consultations with WWE, I decided to leave," she continued.

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KAIRI initially bid farewell to the WWE Universe in July 2020 when she decided to step away from in-ring activities and move back to her native Japan. Sane later confirmed that, although she was no longer a WWE Superstar, she would remain on the company payroll in a new position as a WWE brand ambassador in Japan. WWE eventually pulled the plug on its operation in Japan and KAIRI became a free agent.

In February, KAIRI returned to Japanese promotion Stardom during a press conference. KAIRI was interrupted by Nakano and Sayaka. It was later confirmed that KAIRI would team with Iwatani at the World Climax event. KAIRI worked for Stardom for 6 years before joining WWE in 2017.

"After I returned to Japan, I had not been watching professional wrestling with much enthusiasm. But when I went to Stardom's Budokan last year, the feeling of "I want to fight with everyone someday" came up from my heart," KAIRI said of her decision to return to Stardom in the aforementioned Entame Next interview.

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