James made her WWE debut under the ring name Kayla Inlay on the February 1, 2022 episode of NXT, losing to Sarray. She was soon repackaged as Kiana James and took on a businesswoman gimmick, debuting in the NXT Women's Breakout Tournament on May 17, losing to Roxanne Perez in the first round. James would have her first televised win on the June 24 episode of NXT Level Up, by defeating Brooklyn Barlow. On the July 19 episode of NXT, James competed in a twenty-woman battle royal to determine the number one contender for the NXT Women's Championship, eliminating Fallon Henley but being eliminated herself by Nikkita Lyons. James then feuded with Lyons after insulting her looks, but lost to her on the August 9 episode of NXT and in a tag match alongside Arianna Grace against Lyons and Zoey Stark on the September 13 episode of NXT. James would have a short feud with Dana Brooke on WWE Main Event, defeating her on November 3. James would then start a feud against Henley, with whom she would bet her parents' bar against the offer that James offered her. On the November 29 episode of NXT, James defeated Henley. At NXT Deadline, James competed in the women's Iron Survivor Challenge to determine the number one contender to Mandy Rose's NXT Women's Championship, which was won by Roxanne Perez. On the December 27 episode of NXT, James ended her feud with Henley after losing to her in a "Battle for the Bar".
At New Year's Evil on January 10, 2023, James competed in a twenty-woman battle royal to determine the number one contender to Roxanne Perez's NXT Women's Championship, being eliminated by Lyra Valkyria. On February 5, at NXT Vengeance Day, James and Fallon Henley defeated Katana Chance and Kayden Carter to win the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship, making it the first title in James' career. On April 1, at NXT Stand & Deliver, James and Henley lost the tag titles to Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn. On the April 25 episode of NXT, after James and Brooks Jensen were defeated by Josh Briggs and Fallon Henley, James walked out on Jensen, causing him to go back to Briggs and Henley. On the May 9 episode of NXT, in the first round of the tournament for the vacated NXT Women's Championship, James was eliminated by Lyra Valkyria. James would then succeed in winning a fatal four-way number one contender's match for the title on the August 29 episode of NXT. The following week, she would be defeated by champion Tiffany Stratton.
James would then begin a short rivalry with new NXT Women's Champion Becky Lynch, going so far as to aid Tiffany Stratton in her attack against Lynch. They eventually lost to Lynch and Lyra Valkyria in a tag team match on the September 19 episode of NXT. She then started a feud with Roxanne Perez, after attacking her when she lost to Asuka on the October 10 episode of NXT, only for Shotzi to emerge from commentary and fend off James. The following week, James lost to Shotzi. That same night, Perez challenged James to a Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal Devil's Playground match on night one of Halloween Havoc, in which Perez was victorious. On the November 14 episode of NXT, James interfered in Perez's qualifying match for the women's Iron Survivor Challenge at Deadline, helping Lash Legend gain the victory. Two weeks later, James lost her qualifying match against Kelani Jordan, with Perez causing the distraction. At Deadline on December 9, James defeated Perez in a steel cage match, with assistance from Izzi Dame. At NXT Stand and Deliver on April 6, 2024, James and Dame teamed up with Jacy Jayne in the her feud against Chase University's Thea Hail, who teamed up with Fallon Henley and Kelani Jordan, where the latter team won in a six-woman tag team match. On the following episode of NXT, James and Dame defeated Henley and Jordan in a tag team match in James' final match for NXT.
On night one of the 2024 WWE Draft on the April 26 episode of SmackDown, James was drafted to the Raw brand. On the June 3 episode of Raw, James defeated Natalya in her main roster debut match.