Backstage News On Nikki Cross Potentially Unavailable For Clash Of Champions Match

Nikki Cross is supposed to challenge Bayley for the SmackDown Women's Championship at Sunday's Clash of Champions pay-per-view. However, there is some uncertainty over Nikki's availability.

Dave Meltzer said on The Wrestling Observer Radio that he is putting an asterisk on the Bayley-Cross match due to backstage rumors regarding Cross, who did not appear on this week's Friday Night SmackDown. According to Meltzer, Cross was not in the backstage area either.

"If she's there [at Clash of Champions], she's there. I asked [on Saturday] morning if she was going to be there, and nobody got back to me, which is your answer," Meltzer said.

As noted earlier, WWE released a statement to address the recent COVID-19 outbreak at its Performance Center in Florida.

"As part of ongoing testing protocols, WWE completed its second round of weekly COVID-19 testing on Tuesday. Individuals that tested positive will quarantine for 14 days, receive medical care, and then will only be cleared when they are symptom-free and test negative. Additionally, extensive contact tracing has taken place and other individuals have been placed in 14-day quarantine, and will then only be cleared after they test negative," read the statement.

Superstars from all three brands — RAW, SmackDown, and NXT — who tested positive for the virus are presently in a 14-day quarantine.