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This Sunday at the 'Horror Show at Extreme Rules', Nikki Cross will have the chance to win her first singles title in WWE when she takes on Bayley for the SmackDown Women's Championship. If she is successful, Nikki Cross will bring an end to the historic title run for the "Role Model".
Bayley has carried that SmackDown Women's Championship for 418 of the last 422 days, with only a brief 4 day run for Charlotte Flair in between. A bulk of WWE programming has also been built around both Bayley and Sasha Banks for the last month. Ever since they defeated Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross for the Women's Tag Team Championships, Bayley and Banks have used those titles as their golden ticket to invade every show.
That golden ticket to show up to work on Monday nights is also allowing Banks to challenge Asuka for the RAW Women's Title. The Boss may be successful in her quest to become a double Champion this Sunday, but that would not guarantee both her and Bayley walking out of Extreme Rules with two titles each. She may hover around 5 feet tall, but no one should be overlooking Nikki Cross - especially Bayley.
I had a chance to speak with Nikki Cross ahead her showdown this Sunday at Extreme Rules and the two-time Women's Tag Team Champion is going to give Bayley everything she has got. Winning the SmackDown Women's Championship would be the culmination of a long journey for Nikki Cross that started when she was an 18-year-old in Scotland:
"It would mean everything. I started training, um, when I was 18 years old. Um, started in Glasgow, Scotland, worked in England, Wales, Ireland, all over Europe. I went and lived in Japan for four months by myself. Um, traveled to Japan, Canada, and America. Tried to fight for this dream all over the World. Came to WWE four years ago, um, had my own journey in NXT. Then came up to RAW and SmackDown."
"For me, it would mean, it would mean the 12, 13 years of fighting for this… you know, leaving, you know, leaving a family in Scotland... You know, I really want to win that singles Championship and, you know, be able to, you know, show my mom, hi, this is why I moved. This is why I left for America."
"If I'm not doing that for my family, then you know, what am I doing this for? Um, so for me, you do it for yourself. You do it for your family. You do it for the ones you love. Um, and you really want that reward. You want that prize. You want what you fought for because you know that that's what you've sacrificed for. So ...Horror Show at Extreme Rules, I'm coming for Bayley. I'm coming for that SmackDown Women’s Championship."
Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss still dream of tag team gold
While Nikki Cross is taking aim at her first singles gold this Sunday, don't for a second think that she and her partner Alexa Bliss have forgotten about the tag team titles they lost earlier this year. The first two-time Champions have their sights set on becoming the first three-time Champions.
"Me and Alexa, we're trying to get back our WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. I'm going for my first ever, uh, SmackDown Women’s Champion on pay per view... on the network in singles competition. Um, so, you know, we're trying to take down this power trip. We're trying to, um, you know, fight for these opportunities."
Nikki Cross also recognized the great work that both Bayley and Sasha Banks are doing right now. She believes those two bring out the best in herself and Alexa and vice-versa.
"It is a competition. In the way that we want to tell the best stories that we can. Um, and for the speaking for, you know, for our women and our fans… you know, it’s easy asking them to come on this journey with us when you have these four people, um, who are very familiar with each other. And I think that's exciting. I think that's really exciting."
First things first, Nikki Cross and Bayley will do battle over the SmackDown Women's Championship the Sunday at the Horror Show at Extreme Rules. Catch the show starting at 7 PM EST on the WWE Network.
