Karrion Kross On What About His WWE NXT Run He Saw As A 'Dress Rehearsal'

Karrion Kross was part of the "NXT" brand for a little over a year, winning the "NXT" Championship on two separate occasions between 2020 and 2021. Kross' first reign with the title did not last long due to him having the vacate the title due to injury the Wednesday after he dethroned Keith Lee. Kross later defeated Finn Balor to win the "NXT" Championship for the second time in the main event of night two of "NXT" Takeover: Stand and Deliver 2021. Kross held the title for 136 days before losing it to the only three-time "NXT" Champion in history, Samoa Joe. Kross discussed his "NXT" Championship run and what he thought every day when he arrived at work.

"It was very good," Kross said while appearing on WWE Espanol's "El Brunch de WWE." "It's the type of title reign that people will never, ever seen in their entire careers and for me, to be able to achieve that so early upon my arrival in WWE, I'll never forget it. It was one of the best times in my career ... I kind of thought of being champion of 'NXT' as – every single day you show up to work, this is going to be a dress rehearsal for one day becoming WWE Champion. That's the way I always looked at it."

Kross was brought up to WWE's main roster in July 2021, however, his run did not go as many expected and he was released by WWE on November 4. Kross returned to the company on the August 5 edition of "Smackdown."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit WWE Espanol's "El Brunch de WWE" and give a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.