Since Triple H took over as Head of WWE’s Creative, the promotion has undergone several changes.

Fans have seen several returns from Superstars released under the previous regime, with Karrion Kross, Dakota Kai, Hit Row, Johnny Gargano and Dexter Lumis all being rehired.

WWE has also relaxed rules against some ‘banned’ words, allowing terms like wrestler and hospital to make it to air.

Nikki A.S.H, No More?

During this week’s Monday Night Raw, Nikki A.S.H and Doudrop came up short in their efforts to become WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions.

Losing to Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah, this loss came mere days after the pair of Scottish Superstars failed to capture the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships at Worlds Collide.

During a segment backstage, where Damage CTRL were walking to the ring, Nikki could be seen berating Doudrop, and ripped her mask off and threw it at her tag team partner.

Nikki stormed off, and on Twitter, reacted to a video of the clip.

Changes

If Nikki A.S.H does revert back to Nikki Cross, she’ll be the latest WWE Superstar to undergo a change.

With Vince McMahon retired, multiple Superstars have had their names changed to monikers used earlier in their careers.

Austin Theory and Tommaso Ciampa both lost their first names as part of a McMahon-era rule against talent using real names.

On last week’s SmackDown, Butch, who previously wrestled as Pete Dunne, competed in his Dunne-era attire.

While Nikki did use part of her real name while working as Nikki Cross (her real name is Nikki Glencross) it is not believed that her name change last year was part of the rule.

In WWE, title changes are usually reserved for Premium Live Events and TV shows but that’s not always the case.

On rare occasions, WWE will have titles change hands at untelevised live events to give the fans in attendance an extra special moment.

Title Changes

At a WWE Live event in London, Ontario, Canada, the 24/7 Championship changed hands several times.

Dana Brooke walked into the event as Champion but lost the title to Tamina Snuka.

Snuka’s reign, her fifth reign overall, ended in seconds when she was pinned by Nikki A.S.H, marking the Scottish wrestler’s third reign as champion.

WWE referee Shawn Bennett had his own brief moment of glory, pinning Nikki to win the title, marking the first time an active referee had become champion in WWE.

Bennett’s history-making victory was also short-lived, as he lost the title an estimated ten seconds later to Snuka.

Snuka’s sixth reign ended shortly after, being pinned by Brooke, who left the show with the 24/7 Title, now an eight-time holder of the gold.

The 24/7 Championship

Introduced by Mick Foley in 2019, the 24/7 Championship is WWE’s answer to the Hardcore Championship of the Attitude Era.

Unlike its predecessor, the 24/7 title focuses on comedy rather than violent wrestling.

While the title faced criticism from fans at first, thanks in part to its design, the championship would later win over audiences due who appreciated the comedic aspect of the title changes.

Nikki A.S.H. and Rhea Ripley became the new WWE women’s tag team champions after defeating Natalya and Tamina Snuka on tonight’s episode of Monday Night Raw.

The title match on tonight’s episode of the red branded show saw Nikki and Tamina starting the bout for their teams. Though Tamina attacked Ripley early in the fight when she came in the ring to break a pin.

The champions worked on Nikki A.S.H. for the majority of the bout while tagging in and out themselves. Tamina delivered a Samoan drop to Nikki at one point.

Snuka then went to the top rope for the superfly splash but Nikki managed to get her knees up in time. Though she couldn’t tag in Ripley who was still down at the ringside. Natalya managed to tag in and unloaded on Nikki.

The ending of the bout saw Ripley finally coming to her sense and attacking Tamina at the ringside. Natalya tried to lock Nikki in the sharpshooter but she got distracted by Rhea delivering a riptide to her partner into the edge of the ring apron.

The distraction allowed Nikki A.S.H. to roll Natalya for the pin and win the match for her team, marking the start of the title reign for Ripley and herself.

Natalya and Tamina had won the tag team titles from Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler during the May 14 episode of SmackDown. Their reign lasted for 129 days.

• WWE RAW Results (9/20): Triple Threat Main Event, New Day vs. The Bloodline, New Champs

The match featuring Nikki ASH vs Tamina Snuka on RAW this week ended on a strange note. Nikki hit Tamina with a tornado DDT and then went for the pin. Tamina appeared to get her shoulder up before the 3-count but the ref counted 3 regardless. Things then got even stranger as Tamina’s music played and the ring announcer declared her the winner. The referee, however, awarded the match to Nikki.

According to a report from Dave Melter on Wrestling Observer Radio, Tamina was supposed to win the match but the referee didn’t see her shoulder come up on the pin attempt. WWE referees are instructed to call things as if they are real, so they declared Nikki the winner.

“The Tamina match, Tamina was supposed to win that match,” Meltzer said.

“What happened was, the ref botched the call. Tamina kicked out, the ref did not see her kick out and called it as a shoot,” he continued.

Tamina’s music played as she was the expected winner. The ring announcer declared her the winner as that was the expected result.

“The ref backstage just said ‘I didn’t see it’, was apologetic and everything like that but it was the ref’s fault, he blew the call.”

It was also noted that all the performers involved began improvising after the bell. Nikki didn’t hesitate to celebrate the victory despite it not being the planned finish.

“There was nothing there as far as what was going on after the pin that was scripted, in that sense, they were all going with the flow. Everyone involved did a good job,” Meltzer continued.

Nikki A.S.H. admits her current character on WWE television was a hail mary.

Nikki is the current Raw Women’s Champion. While she’s in the most prominent spot of her career, the Nikki A.S.H. character has drawn criticism. Those who take issue with the gimmick say that it spells doom for any babyface in 2021 due to its cheesiness.

The character was Nikki’s idea as she wanted to come up with something that would stand out to the WWE brass. The idea earned her a title run and she will be competing at SummerSlam against Charlotte and Rhea Ripley.

During a chat with Corey Graves on WWE After the Bell, Nikki discussed her superhero persona and how it came to fruition.

“Yeah, it really felt like alright this is it, this is the hail mary as you say. It’s so weird nobody has asked me that. I think it was and it was that hail mary moment, there needed to be a change and that was really apparent to me. That was really apparent to me right around the Royal Rumble, we told this fun story on social media and on digital about me qualifying for the match and we made a story out of that. Right around the Royal Rumble it was so clear and so apparent that there needed to be a change and that was it. I spent hours and hours researching this idea and getting this pitch right and I commissioned this artist to draw up what Nikki A.S.H would be as a cartoon character.

“You take it to the boss and it’s like you’re nervous but you’re also confident and I believed in this idea so much that you’re just like alright, let’s do it. You have to put your nerves aside and push down the butterflies. At the end of the day, I believed in the pitch on a personal level, I believed in it from a business sense, this is good business, this is a good idea. I also believed that in the heart of it it’s very pure and wholesome, something that I really wanted to portray, I wanted to portray something fun and joyful. It makes me happy and I want to try and make others and also for business I knew it was a great idea. It was just about swallowing the nerves and just going in and doing it. It did feel like a hail mary, that’s a good way of describing it.”

Thanks to her efforts, Nikki ended up winning the Money in the Bank briefcase. She successfully cashed it in on Charlotte on the July 19 edition of Monday Night Raw. This is her first singles title reign in WWE.

Time will tell if Nikki A.S.H. can maintain her hold on the gold this Saturday night. SummerSlam takes place on Aug. 21 inside Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

New RAW Women’s Champion Nikki A.S.H. recently took part in an interview with Ryan Satin on the “Out of Character” podcast. During the discussion, Nikki spoke about her new “Almost a Superhero” character and what influenced the gimmick.

“When we started to explore it, it was going to be a super positive role model for children and the younger audience,” Nikki said during the interview (transcriptions via 411Mania).

She would then talk about how superhero characters from Marvel and D.C helped influence the character.

“We did a concept cartoon and then I looked into the research,” Nikki continued. “For Wonder Woman, what were the numbers like at the box office? It was successful, but how much money did it make? How much money did Captain Marvel make? Looking at the success, especially with female-led superhero movies and television shows. The female-led franchises and female-led movies are what I wanted to really focus on and show that there has been a huge success and it’s inspirational.”

Nikki continued to talk about how she sees how much superhero characters can touch people’s lives. She wanted to bring the same feeling to her new character on RAW.

“I have younger nephews and they are obsessed with superheroes. You see how much it can touch people’s lives and at WWE, we also want to touch people’s lives and connect with families and people with all ages. Superheroes and WWE, we want to unite people.”

Nikki A.S.H became the 10th wrestler in history to win the RAW Women’s Championship when she cashed in on Charlotte Flair. Her reign is currently the 21st in the title’s lineage.

Nikki A.S.H. might almost be one, but WWE does have a bona fide superhero as part of their history. Gregory ‘Hurricane’ Helms.  The Hurricane as he was known for part of his WWE run, recently made a surprise appearance on WWE’s The Bump. His appearance was a shock for scheduled guest Nikki.

Talking on the show, Helms was full of praise for Nikki A.S.H. who approached him for permission to become a superhero, just like him.

“It’s been amazing. I try to be there in gorilla every time she comes back. For the big moments, I’ve been there,” Shane Helms began. “She’s been polite and humble. Not that she had to ask for permission, but you know, I’m not wrestling as The Hurricane anymore. I just turned 47, and that window might be closing. She took the respectful route and asked me about it, and from day one, I told her, whatever you need, I’m here for you. It’s been fun watching her grow. Nobody was happier for her than me that night.”

The newfound confidence Nikki has gained under her almost a superhero disguise saw her capture her first WWE title after a successful Money in the Bank cash in.

Helms Has Ideas for Nikki A.S.H.

During the conversation, Nikki A.S.H. said that she would love to one day work an angle alongside the Hurricane. To which Helms replied positively.

“Uh, let me say, I have ideas, but I don’t want to give them out now,” Helms replied with a grin. “It would have to be something that highlights Nikki. That’s something I want to make sure of ’cause I’ve had a lot of great moments myself. However, if I could find a way to highlight Nikki, 100 per cent, I’m in.”

In true superhero fashion, Helms is thinking about others before himself. It is true, he has been there, done that and picked up the battle scars along the way. While age is catching him up, and injuries might limit him in the ring, there is something oddly magical about Nikki A.S.H. and The Hurricane joining forces.

Last week was probably the biggest week of her WWE career for Nikki A.S.H. Not only did she manage to win the Money In The Bank briefcase at the namesake PPV on Sunday, but she successfully cashed in the contract on Monday at Raw to win her first singles’ women’s title in the company.

The new champion spoke to Sunday Post after her championship victory. Discussing how she is feeling after her big win, the female star said that it all feels like a dream:

“It hasn’t sunk in yet. It’s a dream and it feels like I don’t want anyone to wake me up.’ said Nikki, “I was just staring at it when I got back to my hotel room, thinking of all the memories, all the people that helped, encouraged and inspired me on the journey.”

• Nikki Cross On The Inspiration Behind Her Superhero Gimmick

Nikki A.S.H. On Potential Match With Becky Lynch

Now that she is on the top of the mountain, the former Sanity member has many potential opponents looking to dethrone her and take the title for themselves.

One such potential opponent is Becky Lynch who has been rumored for a WWE return for a while now. When asked about potentially defending her title against The Man, Nikki said that she is ready for the challenge:

“I’m ready for the challenge from Becky and I truly hope it does happen, Becky and Drew [McIntyre] have been amazing role models, inspiring me and creating that blueprint.”

Apart from this, Nikki A.S.H. discussed becoming the second Scottish star to win a singles championship in WWE after Drew McIntyre and more. You can check out her full interview at this link.