Thursday night, NXT taped their upcoming Jan. 9 show at the usual spot, Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. Spoilers were leaked from the taping, and one spoiler in particular appeared to be a possible NXT Superstar send-off.
Spoilers provided by Prowrestling.com below:
During the show, Bianca Belair faced Nikki Cross in a bout that lasted nearly 12 minutes, and was hailed as an intense match where fans took part in dueling “Undefeated” and “Overrated” chants throughout.
Belair defeated Cross, and during Cross’ exit, she paused to take a look at the crowd, take in the energy of the fans, and show her gratitude while fans shouted “Thank you, Nikki!”. The moment seemed like a send-off, as if it was Cross’ last show with NXT.
If the reaction from Cross was indeed a send-off, the moment is not a surprising one. On Dec. 17, it was announced during an episode of Raw, that several NXT Superstars, including Cross, would be added to the main rosters, soon.
The announcement didn’t include which show the talent would be added to, but it’s not a far reach to speculate that Cross will be added to SmackDown Live.
Cross was added to the stable SAnitY on their NXT debut in Oct. 2016. In early 2018, the three male members of the group were called-up to SmackDown, leaving Cross behind in NXT. Assuming that stable will still include Cross, she could easily be added to the Blue Brand.
Cross has already performed on SmackDown, as well, when she answered an open challenge initiated by the then-SmackDown Women’s Champion, Becky Lynch, on the Nov. 6 episode.
Rumors have circled that the call-ups will likely occur during the Jan. 7 and Jan. 8 episodes of Raw and SmackDown. The Monday night staple will be live in Orlando, only 14 minutes away from Winter Park, while Tuesday’s show will be live in Jacksonville, which is only a few hours away from Full Sail.
If the rumors are assumed accurate, the goodbye to Nikki Cross during this taping would be fitting.
The Scottish wrestler is still listed under the NXT brand on WWE.com, so there’s no saying for sure what roster she will land on.
Before signing on to WWE’s developmental territory in April 2016, the 29-year-old veteran wrestled in over a dozen different promotions in a seven-year span, including Insane Championship Wrestling, Pro-Wrestling: EVE, SHIMMER, JWP Joshi Puroresu, Stardom, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
Since debuting on NXT, the fan favorite has taken part in a number of important feuds and storylines, including the Aleister Black and Johnny Gargano feud. There’s no telling what feud she’ll take part in on the main rosters, or if she’ll be heel or face, since she has swayed between the two in the past.
Tune into next week’s Raw and SmackDown this coming Monday and Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST to see if the NXT Superstars make their way up.
Watch for this NXT taping on Jan. 9 at 8 p.m. EST on the WWE Network. The full list of spoilers from Prowrestling.com can be seen here.
Do you think this was Nikki’s goodbye? Which show do you think she’ll end up on?
