Nikki Cross has revealed how she personally pitched the Nikki A.S.H. character to Vince McMahon, complete with market research, concept artwork and evidence that she believed could convince him the gimmick would make WWE money.
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Cross explained that the idea came together in 2021 when she felt WWE’s roster was missing a superhero-style character. “I always loved superheroes. I needed something different, and there was a gap on the roster. We didn’t have anything like that.”
Cross looked at WWE’s history with characters such as The Hurricane and Mighty Molly, but also at the enormous mainstream popularity of superhero franchises. “The Avengers, Batgirl, Wonder Woman had just came out, so there the box office numbers were talking, people love superheroes.”
Rather than simply pitching the character verbally, Cross put together an extensive presentation. “I ended up coming up with this entire pitch. I had a portfolio, a binder, and I did the market research for it.”
That research included box-office numbers for movies including Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel and Avengers, along with superhero television and streaming content.
Cross also commissioned a Scottish artist to create concept artwork. Her original vision featured blue and gold gear inspired by the X-Men, a yellow cross connecting the character to Nikki Cross and lightning bolts referencing her earlier Nikki Storm persona. She even prepared alternative colour schemes in case McMahon preferred something different. “I had together this big presentation, waited outside Vince [McMahon]’s office for a few hours.”
With Raw approaching and little time available, Cross went straight to the point when she finally got inside. “I just basically gave it to Vince and was like, ‘Hey, I’ve got an idea. This will make you money.’”
Cross heard nothing for several weeks before receiving an unexpected message from McMahon on Mother’s Day. “I got a text on Mother’s Day from him saying, ‘I think your idea is genius.’”
McMahon instructed her to get WWE creative working on the concept, leading Cross to immediately contact the writers she knew. “I literally texted every creative member who I knew who, and I had their number for, just said Vince really likes it. Let’s get going with it.”
However, McMahon made a significant change to Cross’ original concept. Rather than presenting her as a fully formed superhero in the mould of Captain Marvel, he wanted Nikki to be “Almost A Superhero” — someone without actual superpowers who was still learning to become the person she believed she could be. “He ended up making the character more relatable.”
Cross compared McMahon’s approach to the early Spider-Man, whose homemade costume helped make him feel accessible rather than untouchable. “He wanted it to be Nikki Almost A Superhero because almost is like she’s not quite a superhero, she’s like a superhero in training.”
Cross said McMahon was also conscious of avoiding simply repeating what WWE had already done with The Hurricane. The intention was instead to create something younger fans, particularly girls, could identify with and even recreate themselves. “She knows that she doesn’t have superpowers, but her mindset is that she’s a superhero and can take on the world, and that’s how I approached it.”
Once she understood what McMahon was looking for, Cross said the final Nikki A.S.H. character became a combination of her original superhero pitch and his interpretation of it. “When I understood his vision for it and what he wanted to do, the Nikki superhero character merged with his vision.”
Cross debuted as Nikki A.S.H. in June 2021. The character quickly received a major push, with Cross winning the Money in the Bank contract the following month and cashing it in one night later to become Raw Women’s Champion.
