Absent WWE Superstar teases bringing back old gimmick
An absent WWE Superstar recently teased bringing back an older and more successful gimmick. The name in question is Nikki Cross.
The 34-year-old last competed inside a WWE ring on the November 6, 2023, edition of Monday Night RAW. She was part of the Battle Royal to determine the number one contender for Rhea Ripley's Women's World Championship at Survivor Series: WarGames 2023. Zoey Stark won the match and challenged The Eradicator for the title at the premium live event.
During the last few weeks of her television appearances, Nikki Cross was seen portraying a bizarre character who stood around with a blank look on her face, almost in a trance-like state. The former 24/7 Champion recently took to Instagram Stories to tease a change in gimmick. She shared a picture of a fan sign asking to bring back Nikki A.S.H.
For those unaware, during her run as Nikki A.S.H. (Almost Super Hero), Cross won the 2021 Women's Money In The Bank Ladder Match. She cashed in her contract the following night on RAW, defeating Charlotte Flair to win the RAW Women's Championship for the first time. However, she lost the title back to The Queen at SummerSlam.
Wrestling veteran urges WWE to release Nikki Cross
Like several WWE Superstars, Nikki Cross could not replicate her NXT success on the main roster. Despite winning championships here and there, she hasn't been part of any significant storyline for quite some time now.
It was also rumored that the former WWE Women's Tag Team Champion voiced her displeasure at her booking. Speaking on The Brand podcast, Stevie Richards addressed the claims and urged the Stamford-based company to release Cross:
"You know what's funny? They're not exclusive to doing that. Every wrestling company throughout history has done this. There's some weird thing with wrestling when you wanna participate, when you wanna earn your money, when you wanna be booked, when you wanna give them a return on the investment, somehow you get heat for that and you get punished. Just release her," he said.
With WrestleMania around the corner, it seems highly unlikely that Nikki Cross will make a return to in-ring action anytime soon. But, if and when it happens, we might witness her in a different gimmick than the current one.
Do you think Nikki Cross has been underutilized? Sound off in the comments section below.