Details on Vince McMahon drastically changing his mind about three former WWE Superstars
Big Damo, formerly known as Killian Dain in WWE, recently recalled how Vince McMahon initially viewed SAnitY following their main roster call-up.
The Northern Irishman moved from NXT to SmackDown alongside Alexander Wolfe and Eric Young in April 2018. Unfortunately, the villainous trio struggled to receive television time on the main roster and separated within a year of their SmackDown debut.
Speaking on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, Damo claimed McMahon’s lack of input in SAnitY’s creation played a part in their demise.
“It’s simple, we weren’t created by Vince,” Damo said. “It was something that was given to him, and originally he liked one of our promos and then he watched the same promo two weeks later and didn’t like it. It comes down to if he sees the vision, then great, it works, and that happens sometimes.” [51:02-51:20]
NXT founder Triple H came up with the idea of the SAnitY faction in 2016. The group, which also included Nikki Cross in NXT, featured prominently on the black and gold brand. However, they were never presented as a serious threat on SmackDown.
Why Vince McMahon removed Nikki Cross from SAnitY
#SAnitY storms the ring to send a message loud and clear to @TheEricYoung's opponent tonight, @AdamColePro! #WWENXT https://t.co/muJCxyu3d3
While all three male SAnitY members joined SmackDown after WrestleMania 34, Nikki Cross waited until late 2018 to officially become a main roster member.
Damo, who is married to Cross in real life, confirmed that Vince McMahon decided to remove the three-time Women’s Tag Team Champion from the stable.
“He didn’t like that there was a girl in our group, so he got rid of Nikki,” Damo added. “To be honest, Nikki was such an integral member of SAnitY. By the time we got called up, we were babyfaces in NXT. We went the full journey to the point where people genuinely started liking us.” [51:23-51:37]
Despite achieving fan-favorite status in NXT, SAnitY became heels as soon as they received their main roster call-up. The faction broke up shortly after losing a three-on-one handicap match to The Miz on the April 2, 2019 episode of SmackDown.
Please credit the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling if you use quotes from this article.