Absent WWE star sends cryptic message 184 days since last TV appearance

An absent WWE Superstar shared a cryptic message today on social media after not competing in a match on television for 184 days.

Nikki Cross has not been in action since the November 6, 2023, edition of WWE RAW. On that night, she competed in a Battle Royal to determine Rhea Ripley's opponent at Survivor Series last year. Zoey Stark won the Battle Royal but was no match for Rhea Ripley at the premium live event in Chicago.

Cross took to Instagram today during her absence from the company to share an interesting message. She quoted Taylor Swift and shared a throwback image of herself as seen in her post below.

"They count me out time and time again. Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind…I come back stronger than a 90's trend (@taylorswift) ❤️🎧🎶🎼🎵❤️," she wrote.

The veteran was a part of the SANitY faction on NXT, but the group didn't enjoy the same level of success on the main roster. Cross is the only superstar from the group that is still with the company. However, the 35-year-old was not eligible to be selected in this year's WWE Draft.

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Former WWE star comments on Nikki Cross' situation

Wrestling veteran Stevie Richards discussed Nikki Cross not getting booked last year and urged the company to release her if they didn't have anything for her to do.

Speaking on The Brand podcast, Richard shared his thoughts on Cross being booked as a silent character during her last few appearances on WWE television. He said the company should let her go if they don't have any plans for her moving forward.

"You know what's funny? they're not exclusive to doing that. Every wrestling company throughout history has done this. There's some weird thing with wrestling when you wanna participate, when you wanna earn your money, when you wanna be booked, when you wanna give them a return on the investment, somehow you get heat for that and you get punished. Just release her," he said. [From 00:34 - 00:55]

Nikki Cross has been accepted into a PhD program, which she announced on social media last year. It will be interesting to see if the promotion has any plans for the former RAW Women's Champion down the line.