Ahead of WWE Money in the Bank I had the opportunity to chat with Nikki Cross who has debuted a new persona on Monday Night Raw, Nikki A.S.H ( Almost A Superhero). In our conversation we not only chatted about her recent character transition but also the return of live audiences and more.
Nikki A.S.H Talks About The Fan Reactions To Her Superhero Persona and Emphasizes That She Only Focuses On The Positives
I believe so much in this message, and I believe so much in this character that I was just so excited. For me, I only focus on the positive and I see the fan art and I see the lovely messages and I see how people are feeling empowered by it that I just focus on the positive.
Nikki A.S.H Talks About The Evolution of Nikki Cross Says She Is ‘Satisfied & So Fulfilled’ With It So Far
Nikki in NXT, the fact that people still talk about that and it’s 5 years old, I think it’s a wonderful thing. We created something they connected so much with, it was awesome. And I think the last 5 years we’ve seen that there’s been a long evolution of Nikki Cross….So for me I think there’s been this amazing, amazing journey to get from this to this…. I think this all just came together into this awesome steak pie. (laughs). But for the fact that we created something so beautiful that people love and still want it back 5 years later, I am like ‘we’ve done something right’. (laughs) If you’ve seen all my journeys and you’ve seen all the character transformations/ character developments and if you’ve followed them for years on social media and followed the stuff we’ve done with WWE.com and the digital side and if you followed all that, it makes this an organic journey to then being this Nikki A.S.H. You’ve seen the journey that I’ve had, you’ve seen what I’ve been through and I am still here with a big smile on my face putting this positive message out because Nikki Cross the character has been through alot. What we wanted to do was show that, show that journey . I’ve got so much pride and I am so satisfied and so fulfilled with what we’re showing and I love that people are talking about it.
Nikki A.S.H Says Wrestling Character Should Evolve
People evolve and I think wrestling characters should too. For me, like I said, the heart of this character is for a young audience to feel inspired and be good and be kind to each other as a superpower. It may not be super strength, it may not be the coolest superpower like super strength or super speed or x-ray super vision or laser eyes. But I think there is something very important in being good to one another and being positive as a superpower and that’s the message, that’s the heart of what we’re trying to do.
Nikki A.S.H Says The Hurricane Provided A Blueprint But She Wants To Carve Her Own Path
I always loved watching the Hurricane, the Hurricane left such a valuable great blueprint and I wanted to pay respect to that path and pay respect to what came before me but also carve my own path and have my own message for our younger audience and just be a positive role model and a positive inspiration. You put on the mask and you feel like you could try anything and it’s okay if you fall down because you just need to pick yourself up and I think there is a lot of love and positivity that I really wanted to get out there with this message. Use it to connect with people, that’s my hope, that’s my belief on what the character stands for. That’s just the message.
Nikki A.S.H Talks About The Inspiration Behind Her Superhero Gimmick
It really started from my love of watching superhero movies and watching superhero cartoons. When I was growing up in Glasgow, Scotland I would always watch the X-Men cartoon and the Spiderman cartoon then growing older and growing up with the Marvel Universe, the MCU and watching a lot of DC and the Justice League and Suicide Squad; I just finished watching Loki; we watched Black Widow last week so alot of superheroes and it seemed like the perfect time. For me it was combining my love of Sports Entertainment, WWE, and combining that with superheroes.
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