WWE: Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross should win the Women’s Tag Titles

Nikki Cross has become one of the most discussed superstars in WWE since taking on an interesting character twist, and her partnership with Alexa Bliss has the potential to create a memorable tag team.

For years, the WWE Universe familiarized themselves with Nikki Cross as a character who “played” by her own rules. The most important piece of Sanity, Cross had one of the most engaging characters in NXT, and when she was called up to the main roster alongside EC3 and Heavy Machinery, Cross received by far the most positive buzz as an on-screen character.

From receiving a huge pop at the Royal Rumble to cutting mysterious promos about WrestleMania 35 host Alexa Bliss, Cross made the most of the few opportunities she was given as a new NXT call-up. Main roster fans didn’t have any issues getting behind Cross’s character work, promos, or crisp in-ring work.

After WrestleMania 35, Cross has received many more opportunities on television, except it’s come with a surprising twist. Without warning, Cross has become a more normal, timid character, and she’s formed a surprisingly positive alliance with Bliss.

I refer to this as a surprise, because while Bliss has been in a faction before with Alicia Fox and Mickie James, she didn’t necessarily treat James or Fox as equals or true friends. But Cross and Bliss have quickly formed a bond, with Cross even replacing Bliss in the Money in the Bank ladder match (though this was technically due to non-kayfabe reasons.)

Bliss has always been one of WWE’s most important superstars, winning the SmackDown Women’s Championship just months after being called up to the main roster during the 2016 draft as a relative unknown from NXT. A five-time women’s champion and former Money in the Bank winner, Bliss is no stranger to high accolades, whereas her new friend, Cross, has yet to win her first title. She came agonizingly close in NXT, going the distance with the once-undefeated Asuka in a ladder match for the NXT Women’s Championship, but gold has evaded Cross.

It’s only a matter of time before Cross wins her first title in WWE, and it’s also only a matter of time before Bliss gets her hands on the Women’s Tag Team Championships; they are the only titles Bliss has yet to win on the main roster, so it makes sense that she’d be motivated to pursue them with the title scenes occupied.

Though Cross’s change in character was initially met with understandable criticism and skepticism, positives have already emerged. Not only is Cross getting on television more and working with a proven, popular superstar, but she’s also showing more range in her character work.

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Cross and Bliss have generated some of the most conversation of any superstars since their interactions together, and all of this has to lead to something meaningful. While Bliss’s health remains of concern to fans, it is important not to fuel negative rumors without official confirmation, and it is even more important to remain hopeful. So whenever Bliss is cleared to return, she and Cross should pursue – and win – the Women’s Tag Team Championships.

The IIconics cut some of the best promos in WWE, and their expressions and improv skills are top-notch. They are magnets for criticism as heels who WWE fails to book in matches, but they are great at what they do. And WWE is just waiting for the right tag team to defeat them.

Asuka and Kairi Sane should be considered the favorites as two of the best wrestlers in the world, but it seems like WWE might want to wait for them to win the tag titles at a bigger venue with more build and against opponents they could have a stronger match with.

Cross and Bliss, meanwhile, fit better as rivals for the IIconics. Peyton Royce and Billie Kay, who have an impenetrable bond between them, could seek to cause a rift between the newly-formed team, pointing out their differences in character. They could convince Cross that Bliss is too manipulative to trust, while telling Bliss that Cross’s unpredictable past could make her a poor partner.

These seeds of doubt would have to be confronted head-on by both women as their trust levels increase with each match, and they’ll have their growing pains with losses at the beginning of their partnership. But those losses will make them stronger, allowing them to capture the titles, even if the team they eventually defeat isn’t the IIconics.

WWE doesn’t slow-burn much, but they could use Bliss’s injury status as a reason to continue to build things with these intriguing backstage interactions. Because Cross isn’t the only one playing a different character. For the first time, we’ve seen a kinder, more reflective Bliss, who is forming her first meaningful friendship in WWE.

There needs to be a payoff here, and the Women’s Tag Team Championships make the most sense as the ultimate symbol of a meaningful friendship being solidified. WWE doesn’t tell enough stories where wrestlers come together and form a strong bond.

The Women’s Tag Titles could be a venue for this type of story-telling in the women’s division, which needs more stories about genuine friendship, and with the way Cross and Bliss have opened up to each other as more vulnerable versions of their characters, this has the opportunity to be a powerful storyline over the coming months.