WWE's decision to release The Wyatt Sicks came as a huge shock to fans, and both Joe Gacy and Nikki Cross have offered some insight into what they believe went wrong with the faction and how it felt to learn they'd been fired, in two separate interviews with Chris Van Vliet.
Gacy, who was part of the group alongside Cross, Dexter Lumis, Erick Rowan, and Bo Dallas, admitted that even the group itself was shocked when WWE decided to let them all go in one fell swoop.
"We were surprised as well, and I know we were talking about it. I’m shocked that they let all of us go. I’m shocked that they let Taylor go," Gacy explained, recalling how he discovered what was happening after receiving a call from WWE.
"I was about to get a shower, and my phone rang, and I saw it was a Stanford number. I was like, well, that could either be good or bad," he shared. After getting out of the shower, Gacy messaged the group chat to see if anyone else had received a call. "I think it was Dexter, who was like, 'Yep.' I was like, 'Is it what I think it is?' And he was like, 'Yep.' I was like, all right, then."
Gacy believes the Wyatt Sicks' momentum ultimately began to fade because WWE didn't give its individual members enough opportunities to establish themselves.
"I think, in my opinion, it’s because they didn’t really allow us to develop individually," he said. "So I think a lot of the focus was on Taylor, which obviously makes sense. He’s the leader."
According to Gacy, there were opportunities to flesh out the characters that ultimately weren't used. He specifically pointed to the VHS-style vignettes introduced around the group's debut, with much of what they shot left on the cutting room floor. "I filmed one where I cut a whole promo, and they just didn’t use it. They just had me humming and rocking back and forth."
He also believes the group could have continued developing creatively during periods when Bray Wyatt's brother, Bo Dallas, was absent due to a health issue.
"I think that not allowing us to have that little development where we could have carried things on a little bit on our own. He took the time off; we could have still carried on and done stuff creatively without him, and then could have had a big moment when he came back. I think we just weren’t given the chance to develop ourselves so we can also become more of a presence in the group," he concluded.
Cross, meanwhile, has revealed the thought process behind Abby the Witch, explaining how she wanted to honour Bray Wyatt's vision while still putting her own spin on the character.
"So Abby the Witch, she was Bray Wyatt’s creation," Cross noted. "For me, this was Bray’s brainchild. So how do I take that, and how do I pay my respects to that, pay homage to that, but also make it my own?"
Cross drew on elements of her previous SAnitY character when creating her version of Abby, while also giving the character a personal backstory. "The backstory I came up with was that little girl in Glasgow, Scotland, that didn’t always fit in. I would always be holding her... and she became so much more than a prop to me. This was the goal that could get me through anything."
Unsurprisingly, saying goodbye to Abby was difficult following her WWE release. "It was unexpected. For every character I’ve played... I always feel attached to the characters, so it’s always difficult to say goodbye."
However, despite the disappointment of leaving WWE after a decade, Cross is looking firmly towards the future. "It was a great 10 years, but I’m also excited for the next 10 years," she noted.
The Wyatt Sicks' WWE run may have come to an unexpected end, but Gacy and Cross' comments make it clear just how much the characters and the group meant to those involved.