Karrion Kross Doesn't Want Fans 'Upset' Or 'Confused' Over His WWE Departure

The path to Karrion Kross' exit from WWE has been a winding and rather confusing one as some are still under the impression of it being a complex work, similar to Seth Rollins feigning injury to spark a shocking Money in the Bank cash-in moment at WWE SummerSlam. Meanwhile, Kross himself has asserted that his departure, along with his wife Scarlett's, was a result of WWE rescinding his new contract offer and not putting one on the table for Scarlett at all. While appearing on "Cultaholic Wrestling," Kross addressed the mixed perceptions and reports surrounding his exit.

"My only concern was when I see meet fans, I don't like to see them confused or upset," Kross said. "That's the opposite of my job. It is to make them have a good time and forget about all this stuff, so addressing it all is kind of impossible. Then sometimes I want to hang back because I think that there's a way that it can be recovered and potentially turned into a story. But then when enough time goes by and that's not happening, I was like I want people to feel good about things, you know what I mean? So I do my best. I did my best to address everything and the best way that I could, but that's kind of how I was observing it."

In an extensive interview with "The Ariel Helwani Show," Kross noted that WWE had offered him a fresh contract just days before his existing one expired, with the added condition that he had only 24 hours to respond to it. When the former NXT Champion then inquired about the analytics the company used to make this potential new deal, however, WWE declined to elaborate and subsequently voided their offer. Still, Kross was admittedly open and hopeful to negotiate with WWE afterward. Evidently, no further conversations were had as his and Scarlett's existing contracts expired, with both of them now reportedly being free agents.

Since leaving WWE, Kross and Scarlett have already been announced for several appearances at conventions and independent wrestling promotions. Last weekend, the pair made a surprise outing at Game Changer Wrestling's Homecoming event. In the weeks ahead, Kross will compete at Wrestle Pro, House of Glory, and other indie companies.

"Unfortunately, the reality is well known now about what exactly is going on, but I got to tell you, I feel very hopeful about everything happening right now," Kross said. "We have so many people coming in to talk to us and bring us out to events and stuff like that. We've always had great relationships outside [WWE] and with third party sponsorships and endorsements. There's just stuff flying in. I think the biggest problem that Scarlett I have right now is we have such an abundance of work, we can't do all of it right now. We're trying not to double book ourselves, but there's tons of stuff coming in and we just feel so supported and I'm looking forward to it all. Everything happens for a reason."

According to Kross, he and Scarlett have a number of other dates filled for the near future. The exact events happening on those dates, however, will remain a secret for now. Kross' last match under the WWE banner came on night one of SummerSlam, where he took a loss to former WWE Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Cultaholic Wrestling" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.