Nikki Cross (Nikki Storm) on Her Unexpected WWE Release and Next Chapter of Her Wrestling Career, Her Approach To Her “Abby The Witch” Character In Wyatt Sicks, How She Was Included In Wyatt Sicks, & Wyatt Sicks Group’s Debut Moment in WWE

A recent episode of the Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast featured former WWE talent Nikki Cross, also known as Nikki Storm in the indies, as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Cross’ thoughts about her release from WWE this past April and how it was an unexpected moment for her.

“It was unexpected. It was unexpected for every character I’ve played. Whether it be Sanity, whether it be Nikki A S H, even Nikki Storm when I said goodbye to her in 2016 before I joined WWE and Abby the Witch, I always feel attached to the characters, so it’s always difficult to say goodbye. With WWE, I was there for 10 years. I got to travel the world. I got to make amazing friends, make these incredible friendships with people like Sarah Schreiber, with people like Giulia, and I get to take them forever. With WWE, I was there for 10 years, so it’s always hard to say goodbye to such a substantial, significant chapter in your life.”

Cross also gave her thoughts about her being excited for the next chapter in her life and post-WWE wrestling career.

“That being said, I’m so excited for my next chapter, and I’m so excited for what’s next for myself, and I can’t wait to go out to the world and go out to the galaxy. It was unexpected, and it’s always hard to say goodbye to a character in people that you become so bonded with. Myself and Dexter and Joe Gacy, Bo Dallas and Erick Rowan, we’ve shared something that I don’t know if anyone will ever be able to relate to: the five of us sharing this experience. So it’s always hard to say goodbye, but I think I don’t ever want to be stuck in the past. It was a great 10 years, but I’m also excited for the next 10 years.”

Cross also gave her thoughts about her approach to how she presented her “Abby The Witch” character in the Wyatt Sicks group and paying her respects to the late Windham Rotunda, also known as Bray Wyatt in WWE.

“So Abby the Witch, she was Bray Wyatt’s creation. There was the character of Abby was already kind of an image in the WWE audience’s mind. So for me, this was Bray’s brainchild. So how do I take that, and how do I pay my respects to that, pay homage to that, but also make it my own, and do something that I wanted Bray to be proud of? I wanted his family to be proud of it, and with Abby, the backstory I came up with was that little girl in Glasgow, Scotland, that didn’t always fit in. She was always wanting to fit in, and then I took a little bit of what I had explored with the SAnitY Nikki Cross character and kind of tried to merge them, and that was what I wanted with Abby the Witch. It was to pay respects to Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt Sicks, but also put my twist on it because I feel like that’s what we would have wanted for me to become Abby, to be Abby. I’m so protective of Abby, and I would always carry the mask. It ended up becoming almost like a comfort to me. I would pretend almost like it was my Chihuahua who I was stroking, but it would be the Abby the mask. I would always be holding her, whether I was valeting the live events or at the television, and she became so much more than a prop to me. This was the goal that could get me through anything. I just always want to pay the utmost respect to any character that I’m given.”

Cross also gave her thoughts about how she got involved with the Wyatt Sicks group.

“So I was playing the Nikki A.S.H. character; she had been turned villain, she had turned heel on Rhea Ripley, she was a heel, and then at that point the creative had changed, and Triple H loved the Nikki Cross, the SAnitY character, because when I started at NXT in 2016, and it was Triple H, SAnitY was his brainchild. So he always loved Nikki Cross as that little crazy, little gremlin, mischievous, like wild Tasmanian devil. So we made the switch to that, and I don’t know when, but I think at that point Triple H started to think about me being in the Wyatt Sicks. So I think that’s how we kind of got from NickI A.S.H. to Abby the Witch. We went back to Nikki Cross, and then it was something was happening. That was when you saw me staring off into the distance, because I think at that point in the creative’s mind they were like, we want to start to tell this story. We’re not there yet because we’ve not debuted the Wyatt Sicks yet, so we’ll have people know that something is going on in our head. I’m a little crazy anyway, so it wasn’t a big wide stretch. So it was, you know, being in the trance, and something is going on there in kind of Easter eggs and the slow-term storytelling, which I think the creative likes that kind of longer style.”

Cross also gave her thoughts about the group’s WWE television debut on the June 17, 2024 episode of WWE RAW.

“The debut was special, and that’s going to live forever. I think that’s going to live forever in people’s minds. It was such a perfect debut; I was the first one to crawl out. I remember that day in rehearsals. It’s the same pressure I put on myself: Do not ruin this. Do not ruin this crawl. I was like thinking about everything: how I want to move my elbows and my arms and my hands. But you also can’t overthink. You also have to kind of let go and follow your instincts. And at this point, I trust my instincts better than I trust anything else. So, it was such a mixture of get this right, but enjoy the moment.”

Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com, Fightful.com 1 & 2