One-half of the current WWE Women’s Tag-Team Champions, Nikki Cross, recently spoke with the official website of former RAW Women’s Champion and UFC Hall Of Famer “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey. Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On her wedding with Killian Dain (See Photos Below): “Oh! Thank you so much. It was a long time—a long time coming—and he’s kind of stuck with me now.”
On how it feels being a married woman: “It was great. We’ve been together since 2008—so that was like 11 years. … And then we went home to Scotland for the wedding. So it just felt very nice to spend it with friends and family. … It was quite a kind of intimate wedding, so we just kept it very… you know, like just friends and family. It was nice to celebrate with everyone. And my mum got to see me walk down the aisle, so I think she was very happy with that.”
On if the two planned to get married a long time ago or if they were just waiting for the right time: “It was about a few years ago … we decided to [get engaged]. … It was a case of just waiting for the right time. … And then, I think it was Christmas last year—2018—that we decided we wanted to take the plunge and do it.”
On if she is always in wrestling mode and going back to school on her off-time from WWE: “Obviously, it’s my job, and it’s always been my dream job. And it’s always been my passion. But … actually, I got some really good news yesterday. I went back to college, so I’ve been doing some courses with a college here in Florida. And I was doing women’s history and American history and also art history. And from that, I kind of decided to go back and pursue my Master’s degree.
“I actually applied for a course at Edinburgh University in Scotland, and they do … a completely online degree, which obviously suits me because I want to do this stuff. And I actually got the email a couple of days ago that I’ve been accepted into the course. So that was actually great news. That was very good news to wake up to on Monday. We had RAW on Monday, so it was very good news to wake up to on a Monday morning, I was like, “Oh yay! I got accepted.” Because I wasn’t expecting a response back for about four weeks. So that was really nice. … So I’ll be going back to school. I kind of took a break—this summer, I took a break from study—and then I go back in September. That’s kind of what I do outside of wrestling.”
On how the grind of the independent pro wrestling scene prepared her for NXT and WWE: “I think that independent wresting just really showed me that if you really put your mind to something, you will reach your goals and you’ll achieve what you want to achieve. The scene on the independent scene was such a rush. … I got to travel the world. I got to wrestle in Japan and wrestle in Europe and wrestle in Canada and wrestle all over the United Kingdom. So I really got to see the world before coming to NXT. That’s where I worked with different styles, worked with different people, and I gained so much life experience. … You know, I started in wrestling when I was 18 years old, so I feel like all my adulthood has been in this world, been in wrestling.
“So I’ve had so many amazing, amazing experiences that I just wouldn’t change for anything, because it really made me who I am as a person. When I was almost 10, I always wanted to get to where I want to be now. So all those experiences—whether it be talking on the microphone, working with the different styles, doing media, and obviously just everything I’ve done—just prepared me. Like I said, it showed me that if I put my mind to something, I’ll achieve it. And obviously, coming to Florida and coming to NXT, and then now on SmackDown, it’s the same idea. If I just put my mind to something and just work really hard and just try different stuff and don’t be afraid to try anything… Don’t be afraid to try something new. And when it is something new, just completely devote myself 100%—just go all in with it. … Don’t be self-conscious—just do it and you’ll be okay.”
On her experience on season two of IMPACT Wrestling’s British Boot Camp: “Yeah, that was one of my first times being on TV, with the cameras on me and seeing the production. That was my kind of first taste of that. I had done streaming pay-per-view with some independent companies and that was a great experience. … I gained a lot of production stuff which I wasn’t familiar with yet, and then British Boot Camp was just another extension of that. Seeing the way things worked when there’s TVs involved and when there’s cameras involved, production notes… And I met some really great people on there and formed really good relationships. I had a great experience out of that. It was a lot of fun as well. And like I said, anything that I’ve had prior to coming to WWE, everything just prepared me because … it all shaped me and I learned from each experience and I was able to take what I learned and just always take it forward into what I do now.”
On which wrestlers inspired her before she got into the pro wrestling business herself: “For me … I remember when I first started watching wrestling, it was Lita and The Hardy Boyz and Trish Stratus and Test & Albert, and they would just have such fun interactions. And when Lita and Trish … main evented Monday Night RAW … it was incredible. You know, the women evolved over the years. And to see the way the division grew and the different generations and different years… I just take inspiration from many different things, and I was just very happy to see all that and see that growth. It was amazing.
“Molly Holly was always someone that I would talk [watch], and Molly Holly would have some great matches. … And there’s Mickie James. There’s just so many good, so many amazing talents—and like I said, over the years, we saw it grow, we saw it develop. We had the Evolution pay-per-view last year, and it was just amazing to see the way everything grew.”
On her memorable feuds in NXT with Asuka and Bianca Belair, and being the key to the Agatha Christie-esque story line, “Who attacked Aleister Black?”: “I look back on that time and …just feel so lucky and feel so privileged and honored to have those type of opportunities. I can’t tell you how much fun it was. I love working with Asuka. We challenge each other to be the best. We push each other to be the best. We push each other to our limits. … I always dissect my matches, and I would say that the Last Woman Standing match was easily one of my favorite matches of all-time. I was so pleased with that. I was so proud of that. I was so proud of what we achieved.
“Then the stuff [with Bianca]… Bianca’s terrific. I always enjoyed those matches with her. Again, pushing myself, challenging myself to be the best I can be. She’s pushing herself to be the best she can be. And then the Aleister Black storyline, it was just so much fun. It was really fun. … It was just all the layers of the personality. The NXT Universe had seen Nikki Cross in different ways, and I think that was just adding new elements that they could see. It was just great to explore that and explore those elements, and that’s what I love doing. That’s what I love. I love people seeing the different layers of my personality. … Like, they may see something one week and another thing another week and something else another week. It’s just adding all these layers and elements, which—to me—it’s just exciting. I love people seeing that and I love exploring that and showcasing that.”
On her run as part of the SAnitY faction in NXT: “Working with those guys was such an amazing experience because, obviously, I was working … alongside my husband, which is always fun. He’s also got such a fantastic mind [for the business]. And then I was working with [Alexander Wolfe], who’s a really, really good friend of mine. Working with him was amazing because he’s got such a creative mind. He would help me in so many different ways. And then there was Eric Young, and … all three guys have been in the business for such a long time.
“[Killian] has been in the business for 15 years. [Alexander] is the same. He’s been working—similar the years, roughly. And then Eric Young has been wrestling for 20 years. I was lucky enough that I was able to learn from those guys and really, they helped me so much. … Obviously, I’m married to [Killian] and then [Alexander] is still a really good friend, and I see EY [on the road]. The bond of that friendship and those bonds that were formed in those three years, that doesn’t go. That still remains which I hold very dear. Because like I said, I was incredibly privileged to be able to learn from those three guys and just kind of pick their brains, because their knowledge was so good. It was so much fun working with SAnitY. … It was such an amazing time to look back on and it was so much fun.”
On her current storyline with Alexa Bliss and how it came to be: “Me and Alexa discovered that we have really good chemistry, in terms of [how] our personas very much bounce off each other very well. And we just have so much fun together—we’re having a lot of fun right now. Like I was just saying … anything where we just get to show different elements of the characters—which people might not have necessarily seen before—there’s nothing more exciting than that to me. I think a lot of people are enjoying that. I think people are really compelled by it. They’re intrigued by it and I’m excited to see what’s next.
“I’m excited for the fans to see what’s next. … I think Alexa is showing these different elements of her personality that you’ve never seen before and likewise with me. People that know me from NXT, they’re seeing a whole new side of me, and … I love that. I love that it’s almost like an onion with the layers, you know? You’ve seen Shrek? You know that reference? It’s almost like an onion with … all these different layers. And I just, I love that and I just love taking the fans on that journey.”
On whether or not she has any interest in the MMA fighting world: “I really respect what that world does. I respect that world and I appreciate what they do and it’s amazing. For me, my heart and my soul was always inside professional wrestling ever since I was 10 years old. … [But] it’s so amazing. Obviously, Shayna [Baszler] came from that world and entered professional wrestling, like Ronda [Rousey]. It’s so exciting to see and I think … both industries are so badass. I think it’s an amazing time. For women, it’s exciting and it’s amazing.
“I respect any athlete, no matter what sport. I respect them, because at the end of the day, no matter what sport you’re doing, you get up in the morning and your life is that sport. And whether it be professional wrestling, whether it be MMA, amateur wrestling, boxing, dancing, cheerleading, football, soccer, baseball, basketball… Anyone that gets up in the morning and dedicates themselves to sport, you have to respect that because that’s what they do. They work. Their life is that. Their heart is that and their soul is that. So for me, you get up in the morning and no matter what the sport is, I think you deserve credit for that and you deserve equal respect.”
Check out the complete Nikki Cross interview at RondaRousey.com, and check out photos of the wedding to Killian Dain she spoke about in the interview below.
Is she crazy? Brilliant? Both? Walk the thin line between genius and insanity with @NikkiCrossWWE in our newest exclusive!https://t.co/z69SsHxfuz
— Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) August 24, 2019
