6 Ups And 8 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Jan 14)

5. Cross Makes An Impact

Nikki Cross
WWE.com

When Bayley and Natalya had to find a partner to take on the Riott Squad, this writer was already jotting down “Ember Moon” on his notes. That’s what made this surprise worthwhile.

Instead of Moon, we got Nikki Cross making her first appearance on Raw as a callup to the main roster. And if there’s anyone who can get across her character clearly, it’s Cross. Sanity’s Twisted Sister is likely headed for SmackDown to join her brothers, but she took the opportunity Monday to get who she is over to a broader audience.

Cross plays the unhinged lunatic perfectly, storming the ring and constantly thrashing about during the match. At one point, she wanted all three members of the Riott Squad herself, telling her teammates to “let Nikki play.” She was all over the place – in a good way – and hopefully left an impression, more so than the other NXT callups who were simply seen backstage.

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Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.