WWE: Nikki Cross doesn’t need to leave the darkness

Is this what happens when you won’t just let Nikki Cross play?

WWE released a WWE.com exclusive video showing Nikki Cross backstage after her match on Main Event, where Nikki failed to defeat Peyton Royce, one half of the reigning WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. In an excellent promo, Nikki talks about possibly needing to change and “step out of the dark.”

"“Tonight… tonight was my chance. The newest Raw Superstar, Nikki Cross… it was my chance to make an impact on Main Event tonight. It was my chance, and I lost. I lost. Is there something I need to change here? Do I need to change? What needs to change? Do I just fight from the ground up, scratching and clawing? What needs to change? I’m always talking in the dark — maybe it’s time to step out of the dark and take a long, good hard look in the mirror.”"

Since then, Nikki has posted similar thoughts to her social media, both of them focusing on saying goodbye to her chaotic character and repeating the idea of a coming change.

It’s not unreasonable to see all of this and assume that WWE is planning to repackage Nikki Cross. That is the assumption all over social media, with many people reacting negatively to this idea. Myself included.

I could see the decision to repackage Cross if the character was failing to get crowd reactions, but there are two problems with this. The first is that Nikki has barely been seen on WWE television since her call-up from NXT. She had a handful of matches, most of which were tag team efforts. In fact, Nikki was so ignored that she wasn’t even assigned to a brand until a month after WrestleMania. So it doesn’t seem like WWE would have evidence that the character isn’t working since they haven’t given her a fair chance.

The second problem is that the few times we have seen Nikki on WWE TV, the crowd has seemed to embrace her. In fact, there were rumors that the pop she got when she entered the Women’s Royal Rumble match in January caught “a lot of people backstage” by surprise. This isn’t surprising, though, for anyone who followed her NXT career, since she was a clear crowd favorite and the breakout star of the SaNiTy stable.

There is no reason for WWE to give up on a character that they have evidence can succeed if used. There is at least one solid reason not to repackage Nikki: the fact that her character is uniquely hers. While WWE has done the “crazy girl” gimmick before, Nikki plays it differently than AJ Lee did or Alicia Fox currently does. In many ways Nikki’s gimmick calls back to Luna Vachon, a woman who enjoys violence and embraces the things that make her different from everyone else.

In April, Nikki even said the following in an interview with The Gorilla Position:

"…I think the character Nikki Cross, she’s so much fun and she speaks to so many different people in so many different ways. It’s almost like telling everyone, ‘Hey, it’s okay if you don’t fit in’. Neither did I, and we have so much fun and I think it really tells people to embrace… it lets people know it’s okay to be as crazy as you want and play as you want and I think it really encourages people to just live in the moment and I think that’s why it’s so much fun because I get to completely live in the moment and I just get to see whatever comes out of me so there really is that real life aspect of it because I’ve made that a part of me.”So for me, there is that real life aspect to it and I think Nikki Cross has a very important message and a deeper message which I’m excited to introduce to new audiences. People that haven’t seen the character before, I’m excited to introduce that because there is so many layers to the character and I think we’ve only scratched the surface for the last two-and-a-half years. I actually believe we can go so much deeper and I’m excited, really excited for that development."

A number of hopeful fans have suggested the idea of Nikki joining the cast of Bray Wyatt’s Firefly Funhouse. Personally, I hope this isn’t the direction WWE goes in, it feels forced and honestly Nikki deserves to shine on her own and take the character in the direction she seems to think it could go.

If in fact Nicola Glencross, the woman behind Nikki Cross, wants the change, then I’ll support it. But if this is WWE creative making changes to a dynamic, incredible character because of their own biases, I have a suggestion. Maybe Nikki should stay in the metaphorical dark, but you could try booking her in something other than a dark match.