WWE Raw: More Alicia Fox And Nikki Cross Interactions Would Be Great

Sasha Banks and Bayley unsurprisingly won their qualifying match on WWE Raw to enter the Elimination Chamber match that will decide the new Women’s Tag Team Champions, but their opponents, Nikki Cross and Alicia Fox, deserve some praise for thoroughly entertaining fans as an impromptu tag team.

The Riott Squad, Nia Jax and Tamina, Alexa Bliss and Mickie James, and Sasha Banks and Bayley are the four tag teams on WWE Raw with an established history together. But in order to fill out the qualifying matches, WWE paired up Natalya and Dana Brooke and Nikki Cross and Alicia Fox together these past couple of weeks.

Nattie and Dana could be headed for a rivalry based on their backstage interactions, and perhaps that could be the direction for Cross and Fox after their loss to Bayley and Sasha. Because while it was Fox who was pinned by Bayley to send the Boss’N’Hug Connection’s fanbase home happy, “The Captain” blamed Cross for the defeat, pointing to the former member of Sanity and shouting, “It’s her fault!” to the crowd.

Fox and Cross shouldn’t be an actual tag team, and this qualifying match against Sasha and Bayley is likely the extent of their partnership. But from their beatdowns of the babyfaces before the match to their antics during the match, they were quite the pairing while it lasted.

It probably wasn’t wise for Fox to blame Cross for their tag team’s loss to the Boss’N’Hug Connection, because the recent NXT call-up is not a woman to be messing with. She is a legitimate terror to everyone else on the roster. Fox may be “crazy”, but Cross is “insane” and will stop at nothing to hurt her opponents. Just refer to her famous crossbody off the apron, which she used against Bayley during last night’s loss.

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A brief feud, even if it’s merely one match, between Fox and Cross could be an intriguing way of showcasing Cross. Her introduction to the WWE Raw audience in a six-woman tag match was excellent, as she set the arena on fire – and she easily one-upped that performance at the Royal Rumble, sending the Chase Field crowd into a frenzy with her appearance.

Though Cross and Fox’s character work made for an interesting dynamic in a one-off tag match, a few more backstage interactions involving these two women and a potential match afterwards would be awesome.

Cross has a chance to make a splash on both Raw and SmackDown before presumably settling on either brand during the “Superstar Shakeup” after WrestleMania 35, so now is the time to try out a bunch of crazy, one-off ideas with members of the roster to build Cross’s character and gauge the audience’s reactions to her.

Ideally, Cross would have some more interactions with the top stars on Raw, but with new Women’s Tag Team Championships and a focus on the Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey feud, those opportunities are few and far between. Furthermore, WWE probably doesn’t want to burn out all their big ideas before Cross settles in.

So consider Nikki Cross vs. Alicia Fox an ideal, albeit brief, introductory program for both women. They don’t necessarily have to feud with each other and could continue tagging, but with Cross’s ties to Sanity and their loss to Bayley and Sasha, that tag team doesn’t have much to it despite its possible entertainment value.

That said, Fox and Cross mesh so well with “crazy” characters that embrace their own craziness in an empowering way and with their differing – but simultaneously “all out” – in-ring styles that it would be nice to see them continue to interact on Raw.