SAnitY To WWE Smackdown Isn’t Special Without Nikki Cross

The WWE’s (apparently) annual superstar shakeup went down earlier this week, and both Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live! was chock full of surprise returns and shocking debuts. From Drew McIntyre showing up alongside Dolph Ziggler on the red brand to Samoa Joe taking the blue brand by storm, it was a fun way to finally wind down after the road to WrestleMania and the Show of Shows itself.

It has been assumed for months now that SAnitY would be called up from NXT following the Showcase of the Immortals, and those assumptions proved to be true. While the stable hasn’t physically debuted yet, they were given a vignette on SmackDown, teasing their eventual appearance on the show.

It doesn’t take a particularly astute observer to notice that someone is missing from the group. While Killian Dain, Alexander Wolfe and Eric Young are all advertised, Nikki Cross is nowhere to be found.

Which is a shame, because she’s a huge reason for what makes the group tick in the first place.

Without Nikki Cross, SAnitY is just three angry dudes promising to bring “chaos” to Tuesday nights. Gee, where have we seen that before? The Shield reunion was derailed by a series of unfortunate events, but we’re just a few months removed from being reminded of the destruction that trio caused upon arrival.

The existence of one three-man stable obviously doesn’t mean another can’t join the fray as well, but is there even enough of a difference between SAnitY’s schtick and what the Bludgeon Brothers have been bringing to the table on a weekly basis since their debut?

A warning for @WWEUsos? #SDLive #BludgeonBrothers pic.twitter.com/e0YKfH8WYT

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) April 11, 2018

Remember, we saw similar vignettes building up Harper and Rowen as men who existed simply to watch the world burn. Their verbiage was a bit less direct, sure. But at the most basic of levels, SAnitY and the Bludgeon Brothers both seem to desire the same things. A fact that will be much tougher to hide on a two-hour show.

Young is a strong promo, but can his words differentiate SAnitY from Harper and Rowen on the main roster with a crowd that might not be familiar with their NXT work? Time and time again, we’ve seen that what happens on the yellow and black brand rarely translates or matters on Monday or Tuesday.

What makes SAnitY special?

The answer to that question prior to that vignette airing was Nikki Cross, without question.

Her kinetic energy radiated from the ring as she bounced off of Wolfe and jumped onto Dain’s back while Young delivered his cryptic promos. Watching this 5-foot-2, 118-pound cannon ball ricochet from ring rope to ring rope while her (much) larger counterparts trodded along was a huge part of the group’s appeal.

Cross comes across as out-of-this-world crazy as she bites into the ring ropes and laughs vindictively as her brothers in arms raise hell in the ring. Without her in the mix, SAnitY runs a very real risk of simply becoming the Wyatt Brothers part deux. The WWE has never really known what to do with Bray Wyatt and his over-the-top but incredible promo abilities.

Why should we have faith that they’ll be able to get Eric Young and the rest of SAnitY right? There’s no denying that all three of these guys can go — Dain, in particular, seems to be a main roster mid-card star in the making — but that’s not enough on the WWE’s main shows.

Shinsuke Nakamura, Finn Balor and Bobby Roode are also great wrestlers in their own rights but went through some legit growing pains once arriving on the main roster. Balor is arguably the biggest star NXT has ever promoted, and he’s just now starting to find his footing.

Cross, who could have made SAnitY unique right out of the gate, was unfortunately left in the proverbial minor leagues to pursue a rivalry with Shayna Baszler. Those two will put on some highly physical matches, and maybe it’ll be good for Cross to get some reps on her own.

But there’s only one chance to make a first impression, and the WWE badly gimped SAnitY by stripping them of their most special commodity: Nikki Cross.

Follow @theCHAIRSHOTcom on Twitter to keep up with all the latest wrestling news, opinions and more!