Nikki Storm Recalls How Being a Rosebud Resulted In Her WWE Tryout

Nikki Storm had a lengthy run in WWE as Nikki Cross, and she recently recalled how it began with being a Rosebud on WWE TV. Storm had a run with WWE that lasted 10 years until she was let go in April. Her time there included runs with the Raw Women’s Championship, the 24/7 Championship and the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships.

Storm spoke on Insight With Chris Van Vliet about how her start with WWE came via a tryout that followed extra work as one of Adam Rose’s Rosebuds. You can see the highlights below:

On Her Appearance As a Rosebud Getting Her Foot in the Door:

“Yes, it was… I was a cave woman. I was a sexy cave woman!”

On Her British Bootcamp Experience:

I had done TNA British Bootcamp, and that was 2014. So I’d done TNA British Bootcamp, and that was that was such an incredible opportunity because I was able to cut a one minute promo on Gail Kim for British Bootcamp, and at that point, I knew that the wrestling is so important, but the character and the promos is what really can make you stand out on the independent scene. And you’re trying to get in the door, you’re trying to get seen. So I knew a promo and I knew good character work would solidify and make me a more well-rounded, more versatile wrestler. So I was constantly working on promos. I was always on YouTube promoting matches before the shows. When I was in Japan, that first time I was in Japan, that’s when I really got into YouTube because I was like, ‘Oh, I can film myself on YouTube. I can practice,’ and I just started practicing because in Japan that first time in 2013, there was downtime when I wasn’t training and when I wasn’t at the shows. And I didn’t really know anyone and I wasn’t there with anyone who I knew. The girls who I lived with in Japan were amazing, but it could be lonely at times.

“So I just threw myself into promos and working on characters. I would practice being babyface, being villain, being good guy, being bad guy, being funny. I tried all of these different things. With the opportunity with British Bootcamp, I had the chance to cut a 60-second promo, which is to me, and it still is, I’ve never changed my opinion about this. A one-minute promo is gold. If you can sell yourself in a one-minute promo on national television because it aired on British television, it was the greatest advertisement that I could ask for for myself in 2014. So, cut the promo went really well, and I had such a blast working with Gail. Had such a great time working with Samoa Joe and Al Snow at TNA at British Bootcamp.”

On Getting Emailed To Be an Extra:

“About a couple of months later, I got an email from John Cohn at WWE being like, ‘Hey, do you want to come to the Echo Arena in Liverpool? We have a show there on Monday Night Raw to be an extra.’ I was working part-time at a gym in Glasgow, and I had to scramble to get someone to cover my shift. I was messaging the manager, who luckily was a wrestling fan, so he got the biggest kick out of me wrestling. So he was like, ‘All right, I understand this is an amazing opportunity. If you can get it covered, please.’ I was like, ‘All right,’ and I got it covered. I mean, I would have probably just phoned in sick otherwise. But I got cover and got down to Liverpool and was an extra and got to be a Rosebud. So I put on my cavewoman outfit. We didn’t get to do matches, but we got to do a promo, and the promo. I did the promo in front of William Regal, and that was when they said, “Okay, come back in April, come to the O2 Arena in London, and you’ve got your tryout.”

On the Tryout:

“At that point I’d just been working so hard to just get the tryout, do the drills. Robbie Brookside had started working with us and coming up to Scotland, and he was working for NXT at that time as a coach, so we kind of knew with the tryouts what was involved because it’s such intense cardio in the training, and then the promos you don’t know what they’re going to throw at you. So it was like boot camp four months leading up to that tryout. Damo had his own wrestling school in Glasgow, Scotland, and I remember Christmas Day. My family were like, ‘Nikki, you need to get over here for Christmas dinner.’ But my tryout was four months away. So I was like, I’ll get there for Christmas dinner, but I need to be at the wrestling school. I was just doing all the cardio drills just by myself on Christmas morning. Because I just knew this is my one chance. This is my only chance. So, did the Rosebud in November, and that led to the tryout in April.”