WWE News: Crowd reaction to Nikki Cross at Royal Rumble impressed backstage officials

What's the story?

Nikki Cross entered the women's Royal Rumble match as the #8 entrant and the crowd in Phoenix cheered loudly for the NXT call-up.

RingsideNews.com reports via PWInsider that the crowd reaction Cross received impressed a lot of the decision makers backstage.

In case you didn't know...

Cross joined Lacey Evans, Heavy Machinery, EC3, and Lars Sullivan as the NXT call-ups who WWE had been hyping as 'on their way to WWE'. Both Cross and Heavy Machinery have had official matches on Raw while Evans has appeared both backstage and on the mic on Raw.

EC3 and Sullivan have yet to have matches on either Raw or SmackDown Live while Sullivan has yet to appear. Cross had a match with Becky Lynch in England last fall and her chaotic nature is unlike any of the other characters in the women's division.

The heart of the matter

Cross entered the match from the eighth slot, right after Billie Kay at #7. Kay refused to enter until Peyton Royce was officially a member of the match because the IIconics are a team. When Cross' music hit and her graphics played on the screens in the stadium, she was loudly cheered by the crowd. She then pushed Kay into the barrier before entering the ring.

RingsideNews.com noted via PW Insider that 'a lot of people backstage were pleasantly surprised by the pop Nikki Cross got (from the crowd) coming out'.

The report from RingsideNews.com also mentioned that the crowd reaction for Cross is a good sign because the same thing happened with the crowd reaction for Asuka when Becky Lynch was selecting her replacement to face Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series.

That raucous crowd reaction for Asuka when a match with Rousey was teased is what allegedly led to her current push to the SmackDown Women's Championship.

The crowd's loud cheers for a potential Rousey/Asuka match at Survivor Series reportedly led to Asuka's current push. Cross might get a nice push due to the

favorable

crowd reaction at the Rumble.

Cross isn't currently tied to Raw or SmackDown just yet, but that could change as soon as tonight's Raw.

What's next?

Since she's still considered relatively new to the main roster, Cross might be slowly eased into things on either Raw or SmackDown. They'll have to decide which brand she'll be a part of first before any storylines are pursued.

Cross might not be in a marquee match at WrestleMania 35, but a lot of talented women will probably be left to the women's WrestleMania Battle Royal.

Ladies like Cross, Evans and any other call-ups between now and April might be placed in safe storylines until things clear up after WrestleMania. Of course being a wild child, she might just cause chaos every time she appears on television.